I Wanna Be Bad
by xoxoRuflyGirl
Summary: My version of the 7 Deadly Sins with Rufus and Lily, my favorite TV couple. ;
1. Lust

_I'm still going to do When I Look at You, but I've been inspired by the Lifetime movie/book series 7 Deadly Sins by Robin Wasserman. I've been intrigued with the 7 Deadly sins for as long as I can remember. I thought it would be fun to do my own 7 Deadly sins series with my favorite TV couple. I hope you enjoy. And, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated. Thank you! Xoxo- Rufly Girl_

_**I Wanna Be Bad: 7 Deadly Sins**_

_**Lust**_

"_Of all the worldly passions, love is the most intense. All other worldly passions seem to follow in its train." —Buddha_

Lily smiled to herself as she hung up the phone. She had just gotten off the phone with Serena, who had agreed to stay at Blair's for the night. Jenny was still at her mother's, and would be for another few months. She had already talked to Chuck and Dan and made sure that they weren't planning any unscheduled visits that night. Scott of course was still in Boston with no plans of visiting until the Forth of July. That left only Eric to attend to. Lily knew that wouldn't be hard. She really needed to get him out of the house. Rufus had been away for the weekend performing with Lincoln Hawk at some music festival in Albany. She had stayed behind with the kids, missing him like crazy. He was due back tonight, and she had a night planned for Rufus that most definitely didn't involve Eric.

She smirked. If nothing else worked, she could tell Eric exactly what she planned on doing with Rufus that night. _That_ would get Eric out of the house in a heartbeat!

Eric came home, and dropped his school bag on the counter.

"Eric!" Lily said, practically jumping on him the moment the elevator doors opened.

"Mom!" Eric teased. He grinned. "What's up?"

Lily placed a hand over his arm. "What are you doing tonight?"

"I was just going to take a shower, then maybe order a pizza in and study for a big History test I have tomorrow." Eric looked at his mother suspiciously. "Why?"

"Is there any way you can study at Elliot's? I'll pay for you guys to go out to dinner, or to order a pizza in at his place." Lily headed to her purse and began to take a couple twenties out.

"Um, sure. May I ask why?" Eric walked over to his mother, and took the money when she offered it to him.

Lily smirked. "Let's just say I have a special night planned for your stepfather and leave it at that, all right?"

Eric nodded. "Enough said. I'll just go take that shower and change quick, then I'll be out of your hair." He held up the two twenties. "Thanks for dinner." He then practically sprinted up the stairs, probably worried his mother would go more into detail about the night if he didn't get out of her sight.

Lily grinned widely. "Mission accomplished!" she said to herself. Now it was time to get ready. Rufus wouldn't know what hit him!

"I'm out, Mom. Don't worry—I'm going to stay at Elliot's for the night. I'll still get to school on time," Eric called out as he headed towards the elevators.

"Thanks, Sweetie. I'll see you tomorrow!" Lily called out. She hoped she wasn't being a bad mother by letting her sixteen-year-old son stay the night at his boyfriend's, but she trusted him. He was mature and smart, and could take care of himself. Besides, she and Rufus needed this night. They had gone through so much together lately. They needed this night to reconnect—in more ways than one. She smirked at the thought.

Once Eric was gone, Lily examined herself in the full-length mirror. She smiled at herself. "Perfect!" She had chosen an outfit that was totally not her. However, she knew it would make Rufus crazy with lust for her, so she had chosen it anyway. She had chosen an extremely short, light blue, pleated jean skirt. It barely covered her butt, and went to the top of her thigh. For her shirt, she had chosen a royal purple half T-shirt that stopped right below her rib cage. On her feet were a pair of royal purple knee-high boots with five-inch heals. She wore no tights. Underneath, she wore a pair of purple lace panties, but no bra. She knew she would have him on his knees the moment he saw her. She had her hair held up with a navy blue clip. The final touch was a silver belly chain she had borrowed from Serena. It had a dangling heart. Lily could hardly wait for Rufus to see her in it.

She then headed down to take care of the rest of her plans for the night. It took her a good hour, but it was all worth it.

She headed back up the stairs, and decided to spritz on her Jessica Simpson lollipop body spray from Jessica's edible beauty line, Desserts. Again, it wasn't something she would normally even think of wearing, but she liked the fact that it was edible. The thought of Rufus licking it off her body made her shudder with excitement.

Finally, Lily heard the elevator doors opening, followed by Rufus calling out to her.

"Lil? Are you home! You have no idea how much I missed you!"

Lily smiled to herself. "I'm on my way." She gave herself one last look over in the mirror, then headed down the stairs. It was showtime!

Lily was unable to stop smiling when she saw Rufus. It was so good to see him! Their Skype calls just hadn't cut it—not even with the phone sex. It just wasn't the same when he wasn't there to touch, kiss, and...other things. "Rufus! I missed you to much!"

Rufus looked up with a smile on his face that quickly switched to an open mouthed expression once he saw what she was wearing. "Woah." Was all he could manage to get out.

Lily licked her lips and smiled. "Do you like it?" She held out her arms and slowly twirled around in a circle so that he could examine every part of the outfit.

Rufus' eyes got that dark, lustful look in his eyes that Lily had grown to love. He set down his bags, and held out his arms to her. "Come here."

Lily didn't need to be told twice! Grinning widely, she ran over to him and jumped into his arms, feeling like a teenager again.

Rufus picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He kissed her deeply, his hand running up the back of her shirt. He moaned against her lips, then broke free from them so that he could speak. "You're not wearing a bra."

She grinned at him, and shook her head. "Nope!"

Rufus' eyes were getting darker by the moment. "Not that I'm complaining, but this outfit is so unlike you, Lil. Well, maybe it was like you when we first met, but... You haven't worn an outfit like this in twenty years! At least, not that _I've_ seen."

Lily was still grinning—she really couldn't stop. "I haven't, but I missed you so much, I felt like wearing something different for a change." She brushed her lips against his left ear. "I wanted to wear something that was sure to turn you on."

Rufus moaned. "Yeah, well, mission accomplished!" He kissed her neck. "Mm, I don't want to put you down."

Lily smiled. "Well, I made dinner, so you're gonna have to!" She winked at him.

Rufus groaned, but set her down anyway—thought it was reluctantly. _Very_ reluctantly! "So, what did you make?" he asked, already wishing they could skip straight to dessert.

Lily smiled over her shoulder at him as she headed to the stove. "Sit down, and you'll find out soon."

Rufus sat down at the kitchen island, watching Lily as she worked at the stove. His eyes started with the tight half top she was wearing, and followed down her curves to the belly chain. He had seen Serena in it before, but it looked a whole lot hotter on her mother. He wished it wasn't Serena's. He wanted to rip it off Lily's stomach with his teeth. Then again, he still could. He'd just have to buy Serena a new one.

Next, his eyes trailed down to Lily's mini skirt. It hugged her butt perfectly. She had all the right curves in all the right places. He wondered if she was wearing any underwear. She wasn't wearing a bra, so it was definitely possible that she wouldn't be wearing underwear either. He inadvertently moaned.

Lily looked over her shoulder at him again, a grin still on her face. "Do you like what you see?"

He returned her grin. "You know it!"

She smiled, and went back to whatever it was she was doing.

His eyes started to roam again. They roamed down to her long, smooth legs. _Gosh_! He was becoming so aroused he could hardly take it!

She scratched the back of her leg with her other leg, the purple knee-high boot's trade marked Alice & Olivia pink sole now visibly seen. He _loved_ her in Alice & Olivia.

He couldn't take it! He had to have her. He had to have her _now_.

Lily had other plans. Before Rufus could get out of his chair, walk over to her, pick her up, throw her over his shoulder, and carry her to the bedroom, she turned around, the smile still on her face (did she ever stop smiling?) as she brought a salad bowl to the table. "I made an antipasto salad for starters with Italian dressing since I know how you always order one to start off wen we eat out."

Rufus inwardly sighed. She had gone to all the trouble making him something he liked. He couldn't turn it down. He put on a smile. "Thank you, Baby!"

"You're welcome!" she said. She came over to him and sat in his lap.

He moaned, and kissed her. She was _really_ asking for it. If she kept doing things like that, they wouldn't make it to the next course.

"You smell good," he murmured, his nose nuzzling her neck.

"It's my Jessica Simpson body spray in Lollipop," she said innocently enough. The innocence ended when she brought her lips to his ear, and whispered two words that, in this particular context, drove him wild. "It's edible."

He moaned. "I don't think we're going to make it to the next course."

She smiled at him, then got off his lap and headed to the cupboard. "Don't be silly! We still have the main course, and you haven't even started the first course yet!"

Rufus bit his bottom lip, and fought back another moan. Fine. He would wait. But tonight, it was _so_ on!

Lily gathered up the salad bowls and rinsed them off. She put them in the dishwasher, then grabbed the dressing and put it back in the fridge. Next, she got out the plates for the spaghetti with meat sauce. Rufus had always been more of a cook than she was, but she knew how to make a typical Italian meal.

She filled up the plates and placed her homemade garlic breadsticks on the plate as well. She placed both plates on the table, then exchanged the ice water she had on the island for two wine glasses and a bottle of red wine.

Finally, she sat back down next to Rufus.

Rufus smiled. "Mm, this smells really good! Though, not as good as you do." He leaned over and kissed her neck.

She smiled. "It tastes even better."

Rufus slowly licked up her neck. "Mm, you're right—it does!"

Lily smirked, and gently pushed him away. "I meant the spaghetti!" There would be plenty of time for play later. Right now, she wanted Rufus to enjoy the meal she had spent so much time on.

Rufus sighed. "All right, all right!" He then stroked her cheek. "This is all wonderful, Lil. You're outfit is just..._wow_. And I love how you have the candles lit, and how you cooked this food for me. You're too good to me sometimes."

Lily nuzzled her cheek against his hand. "Right back at you."

They kissed, then began to eat their meal.

"Mm, these are good!" Rufus said through a mouthful of breadstick.

Lily grunted, for food was still in her mouth. She quickly swallowed, and washed it down with wine before speaking. "Thank you! I made them."

Rufus grinned at her. "Really? Mm, these are incredible! Who knew my baby could cook so well?" He put the last piece of breadstick into his mouth, and began to chew.

"It's not the only thing I can do well," Lily quipped.

Rufus nearly choked on his breadstick. He washed it down with wine. He couldn't even respond to that without ravishing her right then and there, so he concentrated on eating his spaghetti instead.

Lily ate her spaghetti too, and for the next few minutes, the sounds of their eating were the only sounds that filled the room.

Rufus had just finished his spaghetti, and had bitten into another breadstick when Lily, having finished her own spaghetti, decided to eat another breadstick as well. The only thing was, she wasn't eating it normally. She licked the tip of the breadstick around in a circular motion, letting her tongue swirl around three times before she took the breadstick into her mouth and began sliding it in and out of her mouth, taking almost the whole thing in at a time.

Rufus dropped his breadstick. There was no way he could eat now. "Lil, what are you doing?"

She removed the breadstick from her throat and shrugged. "I'm just practicing what I'm gonna do to you tonight," she said innocently.

Rufus wiped his mouth with his napkin, then slammed it down onto the island. "That's it!" He stood up and blew out the candles.

Lily set her breadstick back onto her plate, and placed her hand over her heart. "What?" she asked, her eyelashes batting; still playing the innocent card.

"You _know_ what!" he told her. He picked her up, tossed her over her shoulder, and carried her up the stairs, not caring how barbaric he might have looked.

Lily smiled to herself. _Mission accomplished!_

Rufus practically threw Lily down onto her back on the bed.

Lily grinned up at him. Her face was starting to hurt from grinning to much, but she couldn't help it. She loved how her plan was going exactly according to plan.

Rufus unzipped her boots, and took them off. Then, he took her right leg and slowly started to kiss up it. "Are you wearing panties?" he asked her, his eyes getting the dark, lustful look back to them.

She smirked. "Why, yes I am. They're really pretty too."

"I don't give a damn how pretty they are—they have to come off!" Rufus grumbled.

"Well, then, take them off," Lily said, her tone serious, and her eyes locked on Rufus'.

Rufus laughed as he responded. "Oh, I'm gonna! You can count on it!"

He ran his hands slowly up her legs, now stopping until his hands were sliding over the lacy sides of her underwear. He lifted her skirt up. "Mm, purple lace! Sexy."

"That was the idea," Lily's smirk was a little subtler this time, but it didn't mean any of the thrill had gone. She was simply getting too aroused to bother grinning.

He took the waist of her skirt, and slowly pulled it down until it was off of her. He threw it to the ground, then ran his hands back up her body. "How long are the kids going to be gone?"

"The whole night. I took care of it; don't worry." Lily licked her lips, her own eyes darkening with desire. She propped herself up on her elbows. "Now, are you going to take those off or what?"

Rufus' eyes were practically black as he looked at her. He could only manage a sound that resembled a growl as he bent his head down and began kissing over her underwear. She was teasing him, so now he was going to tease her.

Lily lay her back down on the bed. She didn't have the strength to hold herself up any longer. She threw her head back and moaned. "Rufus, don't tease," she said, her eyes closing.

Rufus responded by licking over the crotch of her underwear.

Lily swore, which caused Rufus to smile. He never heard her swear anymore. She was so not like herself tonight! He loved it! "Why, Lily, that's not very ladylike," he teased.

She glared at him, her own eyes almost turning black. "Do I look like I care?"

He smirked. "I think it's really time I give you what you want. Don't you think?" He let his finger slide in through the bottom of her underwear. He ran his finger over her most intimate area, causing her to throw her head back and moan so loudly, one would think he was already inside her.

He crawled up her body, and ran his hands underneath her shirt and over her breasts. "You're so wet down there, Baby. You _really_ want me, don't you?"

Lily took his face between her hands. "What do _you_ think?"

He grinned. "How could you _not_ want me?"

She rolled her eyes. "How could you not want _me_?"

"Impossible!" he said.

"Ditto," she said.

They paused for just the slightest of moments as their eyes locked, and then it was like a shot had gone off. They were all over each other, kissing frantically as if their lives depended on it.

Rufus took her underwear and slowly slid it off her. He swung it around on his finger, grinning slyly at her.

"And here I thought you were in a hurry to have me," she said.

His expression turned more serious. "I am." He flung the underwear off his finger, then immediately began to pleasure her with his tongue.

Lily moaned, and grasped onto his hair, her head thrown back, and her eyes closed. She licked her lips, knowing she had promised to please _him_. She felt a little guilty for allowing this one-sided pleasuring. However, he felt so good, she just couldn't get herself to stop him. It wouldn't be a problem though. Once she could think straight again, she would most definitely return the favor.

It didn't take long before she was just about to climax. She tugged on Rufus' hair even tighter, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. "Darling, I'm so close!"

And then he stopped.

She half moaned, half groaned, then propped herself up on her elbows again. She looked at Rufus in confusion. "Why'd you stop?"

He grinned at her, ran his hand up her shirt, and began fondling her breasts. "You didn't think I'd let you have _all_ the fun, did you?"

She smirked. "Well, if he could play a game, then so could she!" She got up off the bed, and began to redress—minus the panties.

"What are you doing?" he asked with a groan.

She shrugged. "Well, if you're not going to let me have any fun, then we're done here."

Rufus held his hands up in defense. "Lil, I was joking! Besides, I said _all_ the fun not any. But, fine. You want me to finish, then I will! I just thought we could finish together instead of solo."

Lily grinned, then hopped back into bed. "Relax! I was joking too. I just thought maybe it would be more fun if we were to do this with, these on." She motioned to her skirt and boots, then took the belly chain and swung the heart around in a circle.

Rufus licked his lips, his eyes and hands roaming down her body. "Kinky!" He grinned. "I like it!"

Lily smiled. "I thought you would."

He ran his hands under her shirt and over her breasts again. "This has to go though, as sexy as it is. I can't have you completely covered."

Kelly smiled again. "Do what you have to do. Just hurry up because you got me so hot, you're going to slip inside me like butter."

The dark, hunger and lust-filled look came back to Rufus' eyes, and he almost ripped her shirt getting it up and over her arms.

Lily giggled, and Rufus roughly pushed her back down onto her back. "You like it rough?"

"Tonight I do," he said, his eyes still dark. He brought his lips to her breasts, and began to kiss them, licking and sucking at her nipples.

She licked her lips, and tangled her fingers in his hair.

Rufus couldn't take it any longer. Her took her into his arms, and entered her. He moaned loudly. She was right—he _did_ slip into her like butter.

"Mm, Rufus, yes..." she hissed.

This only aroused him more. He clung even tighter to her waist as he began to make love to her. He started off slow, but it wasn't long before his pace quickened.

It wasn't enough for Lily. She gently dug her fingers into his back. "Harder." She brushed her lips against his ear. "And faster."

His eyes rolled back a little as he gave Lily exactly what she wanted.

She threw her head back, her eyes rolling back so far her eyes ended up closing. "Yes, yes, yes!" she screamed.

He moaned loudly. "Lily!"

She dug her fingers harder into his back and her legs wrapped tightly around his waist. "I'm gonna..." She couldn't get it out.

"I know! Me too!" Rufus said, knowing what she meant without her having to say it.

She brought her lips to his ear and gripped him even tighter yet. "Make me come," she purred.

It was Rufus who swore this time as he went to work at doing exactly what she wanted him to. He was in such a lustful frenzy he wasn't exactly gentle in his thrusts—not that Lily minded. She screamed at him to take her harder, so he did. Unfortunately, they were a little too rough in their lovemaking, for the bed came crashing down to the floor at the exact time they climaxed together. In fact, their screams were a mixture of being from both their climax, and from having just crashed down to the floor.

They both lay panting for a moment, then they looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"Talk about making the earth move!" Rufus joked.

Lily grinned. "We still know how to party!"

Rufus grinned. "That we do."

Lily remembered a promise she had made earlier. She ran her hands slowly down his chest.

Rufus followed her with his eyes. "What'cha doing?"

She looked up at him with her not so innocent eyes. "Remember the breadstick?"

He moaned in response, and brought his hands to stroke her hair. "Lil..."

Lily went to work, and his hips went up instinctively. She gently pushed his hips down, and moaned as she continued to work on him.

He moaned as well, for the vibration on his skin from her moaning was enough to drive him wild in itself—not to mention the fact that her lips were wrapped around him. Needless to say, he didn't last long with the combination of the two.

Lily took down everything he had to offer, which only made him want her again.

She lay down beside him, and they kissed. As much as he wanted her, he needed time to gain his energy back. She had worn him out!

"So," he asked as he held her close and rested his head on her chest. "What's for dessert?" Dinner had been good, but now he had to wonder if she had another part to it.

Lily smirked as she answered, and spread her legs. "Cherry pie."

Rufus moaned in response.


	2. Envy

_**I Wanna Be Bad: 7 Deadly Sins**_

_**Envy**_

"_Envy is the art of counting other fellow's blessings instead of your own." - Harold Coffin_

"Guess what!" Lily said with a smile as she came over to Rufus, who was sitting on the couch reading the morning paper.

Rufus set the paper aside and grinned at his wife as he held his arms out to her. "What?"

Lily sat down in his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I have a surprise for Jenny when she returns home next month."

Rufus raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What is it?"

"Well, you know how Serena is still complaining about how Jenny has her old room?"

Rufus nodded. "How wouldn't I know that when Serena makes sure we all hear about it first thing in the morning? I also believe she moves a new part of her wardrobe into Jenny's closet every day. Then she moves a part of Jenny's wardrobe into her new room. She probably thinks if she does it gradually, we won't notice her moving into Jenny's room and moving Jenny into her new room. Wait. That sounds kind of confusing."

Lily smirked, and gently stroked some hair out of his eyes. "It's okay. I get it. I've noticed that too. Anyway, I was thinking, you know that extra room next to Serena's new room that we've been using to store all our junk?"

"Hey, those are some priceless artifacts!" Rufus protested.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'd hardly count your platform shoes and Mr. T Mug as priceless artifacts."

Rufus licked his lips. "Well, what about your eighties workout uniform? I do think you look quite sexy in leg warmers. I'd hate to see you get rid of that or even the rest of your eighties and nineties clothes. We shared a lot of memories with you in those."

Lily smiled. "And how would you even remember them? You never let me stay in them for long."

Rufus nodded. "True. Still, Lil, do we really have to get rid of them?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "That is how we differ. I prefer to be out with the old and in with the new. You prefer to be a pack rat."

"The second I get rid of things, I always end up wanting them at some point. That is why I never like to get rid of things," Rufus said in defense.

Lily sighed. "Well, they all have to go. We never use them, and most likely never will. I need the room so that the contractor I just hired can knock out the wall and add an in-room bathroom. I'm going to have him make Jenny a room she will be begging to move into. Then, Serena can have her old room back and everyone can be happy."

Rufus smiled, and gently stroked Lily's cheek. "Won't Serena gripe about not having a bathroom of her own?"

Lily grinned. "She's getting her old room back. That is good enough. If not, then she can find her own place and we will have a new storage room."

Rufus sighed. "Not that I'm not touched by your gesture to my daughter, Lil. I'm just surprised you think Jenny deserves all this after what she's done to you—to _us_."

Lily shrugged. "She's a teenager. It's normal to go through phases like that. Besides, she's apologized for what she did to us. I believe she is truly sorry, and has learned her lesson. As for Serena, she is older. Now that we know my cancer is gone, she'll be moving out on her own soon anyway I'm sure."

Rufus stroked Lily's hair, and kissed her forehead. Well, I'm sure Jenny will love and appreciate her new room. Thanks for doing this for her, Lil. I really appreciate it."

Lily smiled at him. "I'm happy to do it! In a way, she's my daughter too now that we're married."

Rufus put on his best puppy dog look. "Can we at least keep the stuff in my old room at the loft instead of throwing it out?"

Lily sighed. "I don't know, Rufus. We don't need it! It will just be sitting there."

"Please?" Rufus asked, adding a little puppy whimper.

Lily rolled her eyes and sighed. "Oh, all right, fine. You're lucky I can't say no to you."

Rufus grinned. "It's because you love me as much as I love you. Thank you."

Lily took his face between her hands and nuzzled their noses together. "Mm, I do."

They kissed.

"When does the contractor come?" Rufus asked.

"Not until tomorrow," Lily answered. "He's really good, and comes highly recommended."

Rufus wrapped his arms around Lily's waist. "Well, since we have the house to ourselves for a little bit, what do you say we do a little building of our own?" He kissed down the side of her neck.

Lily moved her head to the side; offering Rufus more of her neck. She briefly closed her eyes. "Mm, and what kind of building might we be doing?" she asked.

He brushed his lips against her ear. "The building of climaxes."

Lily smiled. "Well, then, by all means, lead the way."

Rufus grinned.

They both got up the couch, then headed hand-in-hand up the stairs, Rufus leading the way.

Lily hung up the phone. Vanya had just called up informing her that the contractor was on the way up. She felt bad for the contractor, whomever he was. It was a hot one that day! It was a good ninety degrees outside, and was hot inside even with the air conditioning. She'd hate to have to build anything, let alone on a hot day. She made a mental note to make him some lemonade or something. Rufus was out having lunch with Dan and Eric, and Serena was off with Blair probably buying more clothing than they really needed, so she was on her own with the contractor.

The elevator doors opened, and Lily walked over to greet him, a smile on her face. Her smile got even bigger when she got a good look at the guy. He looked to be about six feet tall. He was wearing a black wife beater, which displayed his impressive biceps. They weren't too big, yet not too small either. He had blonde, spiky hair and lips that looked like they'd be very nice kissing lips.

He was wearing khaki-colored cargo shorts that went just past his knees. He had on a black cotton belt with a D-ring buckle. On his feet were a pair of black sandals. Around his wrist was a black leather cuff. He looked to be no older than early to mid thirties. He was gorgeous. He looked like a sun god.

He grinned, displaying a set of teeth so perfect and white that Lily figured he either had to have had work done on them, or he brushed his teeth three times a day—possibly more—since they day he was old enough to start brushing his own teeth.

"Hello," he said, extending his hand out to her. "You must be Lillian Humphrey. I'm Casey Woods. I'm here to knock out that wall and build the bathroom for you. How do you do?"

Lily shook his hand, smiling not only to be polite, but also because she liked how soft his skin was, and how well kept his nails were for a construction worker. She wondered if he got manicures. She loved a man who wasn't too into his masculinity to get a manicure. "Yes, but you may call me Lily. It's a pleasure to meet you, Casey."

Casey grinned again, and kissed her hand. "The pleasure is all mine." He winked at her.

Lily fought back a giggle. She felt like a school girl with a crush. She loved Rufus and only Rufus of course, and that would never change. Still, it didn't hurt to admire some living artwork, she figured. "Here. Let me show you to the room you'll be working on. Don't you have any partners?"

Casey shook his head and followed Lily into the room. "Nah! I run my own company. Everyone else was off on another job, so I had to take this one on myself. It's a busy season for construction work."

"People want to get some last minute work done before summer hits and they are off on vacations and such I guess," Lily said.

Casey nodded. "Most likely." He surveyed the room.

"This is the wall I want knocked out, then I figured the bathroom can go in the corner over there or something," Lily explained, pointing out the places as she spoke.

Casey looked in the other room that was on the other side of the wall. "I can do that. This shouldn't be a problem at all. I can get the wall taken down today, then, tomorrow I can start work on the bathroom. Did you just want a half bathroom or a full one?"

"What would you suggest?" Lily asked. "It's for my teenage daughter."

"Well, it depends on how much room she wants. Since this is two rooms she is going to be having, I'd go for a full bathroom. I have a teenage sister, and therefore I know that teenage girls want a bath for times they want to relax, and a shower when they want a quick wash and go. She'll have a little less to the actual room part of her room, but, her room being a combination of two rooms will still leave her with a lot of room," Casey explained.

Lily nodded. "A full bathroom it is then! You know what you're doing, and I believe you're correct. Now that you mention it, Jenny does like both baths and showers for the very reasons you mentioned."

Casey grinned. "All teenage girls are alike, I guess."

Lily nodded. "Apparently! So, are you sure can get the wall taken out all in one day?"

Casey nodded. "It won't be a problem at all! I just have to go back down to my truck and get my tools if you don't mind. I wanted to meet you first and see what I'd be working on before I brought them up."

Lily nodded. "Of course!"

So, Casey went back down to the parking lot, and Lily went to work at making some fresh-squeezed lemonade. After all, she wouldn't want such a hardworking man to get overheated—especially when he was as good looking as Casey was.

Rufus came home from lunch tot he sound of Lily giggling. It had been a nice lunch with his sons, and he had enjoyed it a lot. However, both boys had to get back to their classes, and so their time had come to an end for the time being. He wondered what was making Lily giggle. He hadn't heard her laugh like that since, well, high school. He followed the sound up the stairs and down the hall. He found her in the spare room with some incredibly good looking guy that looked straight out of a soap opera. She had her hand over his shoulder and was doubled over in laughter.

The guy laughed. "I bet that's the last time he ever tries to feed a duck!"

Lily laughed. "I'm sure. Would you like some more lemonade?"

The guy nodded. "Sure, please."

Lily poured some lemonade into his glass, then her own. Next, she set the pitcher back down on a card table that was in the room.

They clinked glasses without toasting to anything, then drank up.

Rufus cleared his throat, and walked into the room.

Lily finally noticed him. "Rufus, my Darling. How was your lunch with the boys?"

Rufus walked over to her and placed a hand over her lower back. "It went well, but the boys had to get back to their classes. Who's this?" He nodded at the soap star lookalike.

"He's our contractor. He is going to take the wall down today and start on the bathroom tomorrow," Lily explained.

"Well, maybe he could start working on the bathroom tonight too if he didn't wast time drinking lemonade and chitchatting," Rufus muttered.

Lily's mouth dropped open. "Rufus! Don't be rude. It is hot in here, so I let him take a break and have a drink. He was just telling me a funny story about a nasty ex-coworker of his getting bit by a duck."

"Sounds hilarious," Rufus said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Rufus, what is wrong with you today?" Lily asked, a hand to her heart.

Casey set his glass down on the card table and held his hands up. "You know what? He's right. I need to get back to work. Thank you for the lemonade, Lily."

Lily placed a hand over Casey's shoulder. "You're welcome! Sorry about this." She removed her hand from Casey's shoulder and glared at Rufus. "My husband usually isn't so rude." She then ushered Rufus out of the room and down the stairs. "Rufus, why on earth were you being so rude? Casey is a very nice man!"

Rufus snorted. "Why? Because he's good looking?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "_No_. He has been very nice and helpful. He has a teenage sister, so he was able to suggest things that Jenny might like for her room like a full bathroom instead of a half bathroom."

Again, Rufus snorted. "Of course he did! He probably doesn't even _have_ a sister. He just knows you're rich and wants to milk you for all he can get."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh, please! Casey's not like that!"

Rufus shook his head. "And how would you know that, Lil? You've known him since what? Noon?"

Lily smiled. "I know what this is all about—you're jealous!"

Rufus looked away. "Why would I be jealous of _that_?"

Lily crossed her arms over her chest. "You tell me!"

Rufus glared at her. "You're being ridiculous! I'm not jealous. There is nothing to be jealous of."

Lily nodded, her eyes locked on Rufus'. "You're right. There's not."

Rufus sighed, then took Lily into his arms. "I'm sorry for being so grumpy."

Lily smiled, then kissed him, her arms wrapped tightly around him. "It's all right. You're cute when you're jealous." She rubbed her nose against his.

"I'm not jealous," Rufus insisted.

Lily smirked. "Mm hm. Of course you're not."

Rufus ignored her, and chose to kiss her instead of responding.

The next day, Serena had Blair over. Serena was happy to be getting her own room back, and was even happier when she saw how good looking Casey was. In fact, she was so impressed by his looks, that she had Blair come over right away.

"Who needs Nate and Chuck when we could have that?" Blair asked with a smirk as she and Serena watched from the doorway.

"Sh! He'll here you!" Serena whispered, playfully shoving Blair. Both girls giggled.

Rufus rolled his eyes. What was it about a young, blonde guy with muscles that had grown women acting like preteens? It was pathetic.

Lily came over with some lemonade. This time is was the pink kind. Rufus didn't know why, but that ticked him off even more. "Ooh! Look at those muscles," Lily whispered to the girls.

"Mm, Lily, we've already noticed them—trust me," Blair told her.

"Among other things," Serena said as they all watched Casey bend down a couple yards ahead of them and pick up a tool he had dropped.

The three girls giggled.

"You gotta love a man that's not afraid to wear Daisy Dukes," Blair stated, referring to Casey's blue denim cutoff shorts.

Rufus crinkled his nose. The shorts went to the guy's mid calf. No guy should wear shorts that short. It was disgusting.

"And you gotta love the way that T-shirt hugs his pecs," Serena said, eyeing Casey up with her arms crossed over her chest and an appreciative look on her face.

"Not to mention how you can see his abs through it," Lily added.

The girls nodded.

Lily brought the lemonade in then.

Casey smiled at her when she handed him a glass. "Thanks, Lily! Hey, I'm getting really hot. Do you mind if I take my shirt off? I know you have air conditioning, but I get hot so easily. Working like I am always overheats me even with air conditioning."

Lily shook her head. "Not at all! Go right ahead."

"Thanks!" Casey took a long swig from his glass, chugging half of it down in one go. Next, he set the rest on the card table, then pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside.

Lily smirked at the girls, who did all they could to keep their squeals low enough so that Casey couldn't hear them.

Rufus rolled his eyes. He had had enough. He turned to the girls. "I'm going for a walk. I'll be back."

"Yeah, whatever," Blair said absentmindedly.

Serena nodded, her mind also preoccupied by someone else. "Have fun."

Lily wasn't paying any attention at all to him. Her eyes were glued to Casey's abs.

Rufus turned and headed down the stairs, then took the elevator down to the lobby. He gave Vanya a quick greeting, then took off down the street. He needed to cool down. And it certainly _wasn't_ because of Casey's abs!

"Well, that was fun! It's too bad He's only going to be here a few more days," Serena said once Casey left.

Blair smirked. "At _your_ place anyway." She smiled as she rubbed her hands together. "I'm sure I'll find something for Mother do have done at the house."

Serena shook her head, but smirked. "I'll be there!"

Lily smirked at the girls. She remembered the days of being their age, so into boys and dating much older guys. She was glad she didn't have to go through any of that anymore. She had already found the man of her dreams. Casey was cute, sure. But he wasn't Rufus. Far from it in fact. Rufus was completely different from Casey, and he was everything she needed. She looked around. She suddenly felt bad for not giving Rufus much attention. She guessed she had been caught up in the Casey hype. It had just been fun to act like a teenager again. "Hey, have either of you seen Rufus?" Lily asked the girls.

"He said something about going for a walk," Blair answered.

Serena looked at her watch. "Yeah, but that was three hours ago."

Lily was starting to feel a little worried. What if something had happened to him? Before she could reach for her cell phone, however, the elevator doors opened, and in walked Rufus. Or at least, she was pretty sure it was him. She smiled. "Rufus, what are you wearing?" She walked over to him and placed a hand over his shoulder. "And are those blonde highlights in your hair?"

Rufus nodded. "They're going to make my hair more blonde each time I go in. The hairdresser said she didn't want to shock me by doing it all at once."

Blair laughed. "You had your hair highlighted and spiked?"

Serena snickered. "And are those Daisy Dukes you're wearing?"

Lily hid a giggle behind her hand. Rufus was wearing the same outfit Casey was wearing that day. He even had his hair styled like Casey's with highlights the same color as Casey's hair. She knew where he was going with this.

"Do you like the new digs?" Rufus asked, turning around in a circle so that they could see his outfit from all angles.

"I think that shirt is two sizes too small for you," Blair stated.

"Well, I'm hot from that long walk anyway. I'll just take it off. Do you mind?" Rufus asked.

"Um, actually..." Serena tried to protest.

Rufus took his shirt off anyway without waiting for a response.

Blair smirked. "Hot, but you're about ten years too late. I, for one, will never be one who likes way older men. They just strike me as pervy, going after younger girls and all. Not that you're a perv or going after younger girls. I just meant..." Blair trailed off, then turned her attention to Serena. "Um, yeah, so I'll see you tomorrow, S. I'm looking forward to the return of Casey." She grinned, and moved her eyebrows up and down suggestively. She then picked up Rufus' shirt and handed it to him. "I'd suggest you only take this off in front of your wife—not your stepdaughter and her friend." She turned to Lily, and gently pat her shoulder. "See ya, Lily." She mouthed "good luck" to her, then left in the elevator.

Serena smirked. "I'll let you two be alone. I suddenly feel really uncomfortable. I'll be at Nate's. Don't wait up!" She walked past her mother and stepfather, then let the elevator take her down to safety.

"Well, now I just feel like an idiot!" Rufus said, moving to put his shirt back on.

Lily stopped him. "Don't. The girls may not have appreciated the view, but I sure do."

Rufus looked away. "Even though I'm not as well-built and young as Casey?"

Lily moved his chin so that he was forced to look her in the eyes. "Rufus, I'm sorry I was all gaga over Casey. I just liked acting like a teenager again. The truth is, Casey isn't my type."

Rufus raised an eyebrow. "No?"

Lily shook her head. "For starters, I prefer brunettes to blondes." She ran her fingers through Rufus' hair. "The highlights are going to have to go. Thank God your hair grows fast, because the spikes have to go too."

"I'm listening," Rufus said; curious now.

Lily tugged at Rufus' shorts. "I do love tight clothes on you, but let's save that for the privacy of our bedroom. Your normal attire is more you—more the man I fell in love with. Which brings me to the final reason why you're more my type than Casey is."

"Why's that?" Rufus asked, gently Rubbing Lily's back.

Lily batted her eyelashes, and ran her hands up over Rufus' abdominal muscles, all the way on up over his pectorals. "Casey is a boy." She brought her lips to Rufus' left ear. "You, on the other hand, are a _man_. A man who knows what I like." She kissed over one pectoral. "And what I need." She kissed the other one. She then tangled her fingers in his hair again, and brushed her lips against his right ear. "You know how to take care of me."

His eyes lowered. "That I do." He glanced at the wall clock. "Eric is still at Elliot's for a while. Do you wanna...?" He trailed off.

"Mm, you better because you're getting me so hot in your Daisy Dukes—especially with no shirt on." She nibbled at his left earlobe, and ran her fingers over his pectorals again. "Make love to me," she whispered.

Rufus' eyes lowered. "Are you sure you don't want Casey to?" he joked.

Lily smirked. "No. I can tell just by looking at the comparison of yours and his shorts that you're going to be able to please me far more than _he_ ever could."

Rufus grinned widely. "Very good answer!"

Lily giggled as he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder as he carried her up to the bedroom. "My big strong man!"

Rufus grinned. "And don't you forget it!"


	3. Pride

_**I Wanna Be Bad: 7 Deadly Sins**_

_**Pride**_

"_Pride makes us artificial, and humility makes us real." - Thomas Merton_

"I am really looking forward to seeing the girls again. It's been _years_! Gosh, most of them I haven't seen since high school," Lily said as she and Rufus entered the spacious gym of her old high school where her twentieth reunion was being held.

"I'm just glad William was unable to make it," Rufus said with a grin. He didn't usually hate anyone. He had even taught his children never to hate. However, there was an exception to everything, and Lily's ex-husband was the exception to the no hating rule. He couldn't stand that guy—especially after the stunt he had pulled with Lily's cancer. In fact, had William been there today, Rufus would have more than likely caused a scene and gotten arrested for assault.

Lily latched onto his arm. "Let's just not talk about him tonight, all right? I don't want to ruin the night before it starts."

Rufus nodded. "Sounds good to _me_!"

Lily smiled. "I wanna step into the bathroom for a moment. I'll be right back."

Rufus nodded. "All right."

A couple minutes later, they met back up and headed in to mingle.

"Lily Rhodes? Is that you?"

Lily looked towards the sound of the voice and saw Francesca, a girl she hadn't been super close with in high school, but had talked to enough to consider a friend. She was looking gorgeous. Lily hadn't remembered her being that tall. "Francesca, hi! Wow, you're taller than I remember."

Francesca looked great. She was of African-American decent. Her curly black hair went to her shoulders. It had blonde highlights in it. There was a yellow flower pinned to the right of her hair. She had on an orange leather skirt over her long, smooth, light brown legs. Her feet were in a pair of black, strappy heels. For a top, she wore a beaded orange and yellow top that went to the middle of her flat stomach. Her navel was pierced, displaying a small, diamond incrusted star that dangled from her navel. She looked only slightly older than she did in high school.

Francesca grinned. "It turns out growth spirts don't stop after high school—at least not for me! I'm a model now. I've been modeling for that new fashion magazine _Style it Up_, and I just found out today that I've been accepted to be the new Victoria's Secret model."

Lily put on a smile that she certainly wasn't really feeling. How on earth did Francesca get to be so, well, hot and young looking? Not to mention successful. Sure she was popular in high school, but still not as popular as some were. In fact, _she_ had been more popular than Francesca! "Wow. It really looks like you've made a name for yourself!"

Francesca smiled, displaying perfectly straight and white teeth. "So, what about you? What are you doing now, and who is this handsome man?" She grinned at Rufus, and reached over to feel the fabric of his suit jacket. "Nice! Armani?"

Rufus nodded. "Yes, my wife just bought it for me for the reunion." He extended his hand to her. "Rufus Humphrey. I'm Lily's husband."

"Oh, yes! Duh!" she slapped her forehead. "I remember you now. It's good to see you again!" Francesca winked at Lily. "You did well in the husband department! What do you do for work?"

"Thank you! Yes, I did." Lily grinned at her husband, and tightened her grip on his arm. She didn't like the way Francesca was looking at him. The last thing she needed was another Holland incident. "I work for my stepson Chuck's company, Bass Enterprises. Well, he's my son now. I adopted him. Counting Chuck, I have four children and two stepchildren."

"Wow. I don't have any children. I didn't want to ruin my body. Having children never really interested me or my fiancé, Tom. He's an upcoming rap artist. He just got signed to Eminem's label, Shady records. He goes by Tommy C. Look out for him. He's gonna be the next big thing!" Francesca said. "He would have been with me tonight but he is busy in the studio, recording his album. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I've had one too many Blue Martinis. I have to see if I remember where the bathrooms are. Haha..." With that, she turned on her heels and left.

"Did you see the way she was dressed? She's dressed like she thinks she is still in high school. _There's_ a woman that must have a high opinion of herself!" Rufus said with a smirk. "Where'd she get that drink? I'm parched."

Lily followed him to a bar area that had been set up. "What do you want?" he asked her.

"Just a water is fine," Lily said absent-mindedly. Francesca had looked so good! She was very successful too. Heck, even her fiancé was successful. She sighed. There was no need to get upset. Francesca was just one person. There was no way everyone else here could possibly be that successful and look that good. In fact, she was willing to bet that she herself was better looking than some of the people there. They had only just arrived. She'd find people less good-looking and less successful as she was. After all, she liked to think of herself as at least average. Heck, Rufus always told her she was _beyond_ average. And, as for her job, Bass Enterprises was extremely well-known.

"Here's your water, My Love." Rufus handed Lily her Evian, then placed his free arm over her shoulders as he held a ginger ale in the other hand. He was the one driving tonight, so he had decided not to drink any alcohol.

"Thanks, Rufus." Lily kissed him, and rested her head on his shoulder. Besides, she had the hottest husband in the world. That had to count for something, right?

"Lily?"

Lily looked to see a girl she recognized very well. It was Amy, more of an acquaintance from school than a friend, but she was easily recognizable. In fact, she looked just the same as she did in high school. Well, not _exactly _thesame. She aged slightly of course. It _had_ been twenty years after all. But still she certainly hadn't aged as much as she should have! She looked in her late twenties instead of her late thirties! She had always looked young in high school, but even so... _Woah._

Lily put on a smile. "Amy, is that you or her daughter?" She was only half joking.

Amy grinned. "You're too kind, Lily."

"Seriously, Amy, you look ten years younger than you're supposed to be! What is your secret?" Lily didn't even try to hide her shock.

Amy smiled modestly and shrugged. "Just good genes I guess. My mother always looked young too. To this day, people still think she's my older sister if they don't know us."

"Well, you look fantastic! So you didn't ever have any children?" Lily asked her. Surely someone with a perfect body like hers never had any children.

Amy nodded. "I have four."

Lily bit her bottom lip. Was she kidding? Four? With a body like hers? There must be a catch. "Any step children or adopted children? I have one adopted and two step."

Amy shook her head and pat her stomach. "Nope! They are all mine! I'm done having kids though. I just got my body back after a three straight weeks of exercise."

_Three weeks? It only took three weeks?_ It had taken Lily almost three _months_ to lose the weight after having Serena, and two and a half months for Eric. This girl was a machine!

"So, how have you been? What have you been up to? I am a stay-at-home mom now. My husband's a surgeon, so there's really no need for me to work," Amy said.

Lily blushed. What the heck? Had everyone caught the super successful boat but her? Really!

Lily told Amy about working at Bass Enterprises, and about her children. Of course she also showed off her husband. She knew she was being a snob by being embarrassed that Rufus was currently unemployed, but she couldn't help it! Everyone else's husbands had fantastic jobs. There was a rap artist and a surgeon. What next, a lawyer?

"Well, it's been nice talking to you, Lily. I think I see Francesca. I'm going to go over and say hello to her. Gosh, she looks great, doesn't she?" Amy asked.

Lily nodded. "Yeah!" she said with fake enthusiasm. "Great!"

Amy smiled. "See ya around!" She then left to go tell Francesca how amazing she looked.

"See ya," Lily said with a wave, though Amy was long-since gone.

"She was nice," Rufus said as they made their way across the room.

"If you like that sort of thing," Lily muttered.

"Huh?" Rufus asked; confused.

"Never mind," Lilly said. "She wished Jenny, her best friend from high school was there, but she had recently gotten married and was now honeymooning in Maui with her husband.

Jenny, though she still looked amazing, looked just as she should for a woman in her late thirties. In fact, right now, Jenny was the only one Lily felt like she related to when it came to her old high school friends. It figured that, of all the times for the reunion to be, it had to land on a day she'd be on her honeymoon.

Lily was just thinking of how she never should have come, and how she wanted to leave, when Emily, a cheerleader that she had never liked too much in high school, came over to her. "Hello, Lily. How are you?"

Lily put on a fake smile. "I'm fine, Emily. How are you?"

"Fabulous! I'm on _Days of our Lives_ now. Did you know that?" Emily asked.

_Of course she is_," Lily thought. If everyone else was successful, why wouldn't the cheerleader be? "No, I did not know that. Congrats on that!"

"I haven't aired yet, since we tape at least three weeks in advance, but I'll be debuting next month as the new Billie Reed," Emily explained.

Lily nodded and fake grinned. "Well, good for you!" Her eyes strayed to Emily's outfit. She was wearing a scoop-neck, short sleeved, royal blue cotton tee that displayed her massive chest. She was tall. Her dark blue jeans were boot cut, but still made her legs look fantastic! On her feet were black Manolos in the form of studded healed booties. Her skin was flawless, as was her makeup. And her lips, well, her lips were perfectly plump. She had the lips of Lisa Rinna. In fact, she looked a lot like Lisa Rinna—choppy brown hair style and all. She looked hot.

"So, what do you do?" Emily asked Lily. She eyed Rufus up and down with a smile. "I see you're still with Rufus."

Lily grasped tightly onto Rufus' arm with one hand, and placed her hand on his chest with her other hand as she kept her eyes on Emily. She remembered now. Emily had thought Rufus was hot, and had wanted to try to steal him away when Lily had brought him to the prom. "We're married now." She hoped Emily got the hint. Otherwise, there was going to be a smack down right now, with Emily coming out of it no longer quite as pretty. "We have six children together," she then added. Emily didn't need to know that only one of the children was both of theirs, or that one of the children was neither of theirs—at least not by birth.

Emily smirked. "That would explain why you no longer have the body you used to in high school. So, you're a stay-at-home Mom?"

Lily's mouth dropped open. She no longer had the body she used to? _Excusez-moi?_

Rufus rubbed Lily's side, his arm already around her, and answered for her. "Actually, I'm a stay-at-home Dad. Lily works as an executive at Bass Enterprises. She is the stepmother, and now adoptive mother of Chuck Bass. She was married to his father, Bart Bass before his untimely death."

Emily nodded. "Nice. Well, it was good to see you both again. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find my husband and make sure he isn't over indulging on the snacks. You'd think being a bodybuilder, he'd eat healthier on his own, but no. It's up to me, just like everything else." She rolled her eyes, then smiled. "But, I love him anyway. He's lucky he's hot!" Then, she was off without another word to them.

"Wow, someone's stuck on herself!" Rufus teased with a grin. "Hey, wasn't that the girl who had a crush on me at the prom?"

Lily rolled her eyes and nodded. "Once a bitch, always a bitch!"

Rufus grinned. "Getting a little feisty, are ya? I kind of like seeing the old Lily return. You haven't been this feisty since you were in high school."

Lily nodded. "Yeah, well, it _is_ my high school reunion we're at." She kissed Rufus' cheek. "Will you get my coat please? I wanna go home."

"Already? But we barely just got here! Besides, they are going to announce the High School Reunion King and Queen award soon, and I want to see who gets it."

"What the hell is that?" Lily asked, feeling all around grumpy.

"It's where they award the woman and man who aged the best since high school." Rufus nodded towards a table with papers and a ballot box. "I voted for you when you were in the bathroom. I'm not eligible since I didn't go here, but I'll let another man be your King just for the time it takes to crown you guys."

Lily sighed. "I'm not going to win. I don't know why you bothered."

Rufus scrunched his eyebrows together. "Why would you say that? You'e beautiful! Of course you have a good chance of winning!"

"Well, thank you for the vote of confidence, but I doubt it," Lily said. Great! She just wanted to get out of here. She didn't want another reminder of how everyone here was prettier than she was. She sighed. She didn't want to hurt Rufus' feelings though, so she'd wait. But, after the winner was announced, they were out of there if she had to drag him by his Armani suit sleeve!

Of course Emily ended up winning—her and Jordan Tyler, who had only started going to school Senior year. He had always been good-looking and popular. He was still good-looking, and apparently, still popular. He was, surprise, surprise, a lawyer. Lily had had it up to here. She turned to Rufus. "Darling, will you please get my coat now? I want to go home."

Rufus stroked her cheek and kissed her. "I'm sorry you didn't win, Lil. You should have. You're the most beautiful one in the room." He kissed her again. "I have to go to the bathroom first, then I'll get our coats and we can leave."

Lily kissed him. "Thank you." She sighed once he had left. She was so lucky to have such a loving, caring, and good-looking husband. He deserved someone prettier than her.

"Hey, Lily! Why do you look so sad?" Karen, who had been a teaching assistant that had always been one of Lily's favorite's asked her.

Lily sighed. Even at fifty-five, Karen looked fantastic. "Hey, Karen! I'm just tired of looking old and haggard when everyone else looks so fantastic. Even you don't look much older than you did when you worked here."

Karen laughed. "Oh, honey, do you think we all naturally look like this?"

Lily nodded. "Well, yes."

Karen snorted, and shook her head. "That's sweet, but no. All of us have had work done. Even if someone tells you they haven't, they are lying. For instance, Emily and I have the same plastic surgeon. Emily wasn't always a C-cup. She was an A-cup. Don't you remember?"

Lily shrugged. "I didn't really pay much attention in high school, I guess."

Karen continued. "And those lips are most definitely not real. She gets them filled with collagen once, sometimes twice a week. And Francesca goes to him too! She's had everything you can imagine done."

"Really." Lily said it more as a statement than a question.

Karen nodded. "In fact, I'm always referring him to my friends. I even keep his business cards in my purse, he's so good. Here. His name is Robert Dubois." She dug into her purse, pulled out a card, and handed it to Lily.

"Thanks," Lily said, taking the card and eyeing it.

"He's the best you're going to find—trust me!" Karen said. "He can clear those eye wrinkles right up!" Karen said.

Lily's hand instantly went to her eyes. _Eye wrinkles? What eye wrinkles?_

Karen placed her hand over Lily's arm. "Well, excuse me. I have to use the little girl's room. I'll probably see you at Dr. Dubois' at one time or another!"

Lily nodded. "It was nice seeing you again. And thanks again for the referral!"

"You too, and anytime. Bye, Lily!" Karen called out with a wave, already heading towards the bathrooms.

Lily waved as well. "Bye!"

"You ready to go?" Rufus asked with a grin. He helped Lily slip her coat on.

Lily nodded. "Let's go."

As they left the reunion, Rufus' hand over her back, Lily looked over her shoulder. She could look just like all those gorgeous ex classmates of hers. All she had to do was call one little number. She slipped the business card in her purse, and smiled to herself. She then rested her head on Rufus' shoulder, causing him to kiss the top of her head.

_I'll become the beautiful woman Rufus' deserves. Just watch me!_ she thought. She smiled at the thought.

The next day, while Rufus was out getting groceries, Lily sat down at her desk, and made up a list. She planned on getting BOTOX to take care of her eye wrinkles, which, after looking in a mirror, she wondered how she had never noticed them before. In fact, she figured maybe she'd get an eye life to get rid of the bags while she was at it. Then of course she was going to get breast implants. She wanted to go up a cup-size. Oh and she wanted some collagen in her lips.

The elevator doors opened, and in came Rufus with the groceries.

Lily set her list aside, and quickly got up to help him. "Did you get enough for a year?" she teased. He had four full paper bags he was juggling.

"They had a lot of sales, and I couldn't resist," he said.

Lily rolled her eyes, and set two of the bags on the counter. "We have money. We don't need sales. Not to sound snobbish. It's just that I bet one of these bags is all waffles, and two more are full of junk food. The third, well, I'm assuming you at least got _some_ healthy food to please me?"

Rufus grinned, and set his two bags down. "Ha! Shows you how much _you_ know. The bag isn't all waffles. It also has maple syrup, whipped cream, and strawberries to put on top of the waffles."

Lily rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "Silly me."

Rufus kissed her. "And _two_ of the bags have healthy stuff—not just one."

Lily smiled, and gently pushed some hair out of his eyes. "Well, in that case..." She pulled him in for another kiss.

He moaned, and kissed her back hungrily.

Lily broke the kiss. "Mm, I have to go to the bathroom, but we can continue this when I'm done."

Rufus nodded, then kissed her again. "Deal!"

They grinned at each other, then Lily headed to the bathroom.

Five minutes later, she came back into the room, but stopped short when she saw that Rufus had her plastic surgeon list in his hands. She hadn't wanted him to see it! She had wanted it to be a surprise. So much for that!

"Lil, someone called for Serena, and I was looking on your desk for some paper and a pen to write the message down on. I found this. What it this all about?" Rufus walked over to her, and held the list up for her to inspect.

Lily looked away. "It's a list of what I'm going to have done. I wanted to surprise you."

"And why do you think you need to have all this done?" Rufus asked.

Lily looked at him. "Do you really need to ask? You saw how beautiful my classmates all looked! They have these smoking hot bodies, and I still look old! Karen gave me the number of her plastic surgeon and told me how everyone uses him. He is the best in the city. She told me that he can help me get rid of these eye wrinkles." She pointed to her eye wrinkles for emphasis. "Then, I took a look at myself in the mirror, and found some other things I'd like to change."

Rufus shook his head. He then tore the list in two, and tossed the pieces in the garbage.

Lily gasped. "Hey! What did you do _that_ for?"

"Don't listen to any of those women! They are all fake! They had to do all that work to try to look good, and all it got them was a Barbie doll look. Did you see me once glare at them like I waned them?" Rufus asked.

Lily shook her head. "I was too busy looking at them myself."

"Well, I only saw fake, sad women when I looked at them. Then, when I looked at you, I saw a woman who is naturally beautiful. I thought to myself, 'Thank God I have a wife who doesn't ruin her body with surgeries.'"

Lily looked at Rufus. "Really?"

Rufus nodded. "Honestly, Lil. I don't think you see the same person when you look in the mirror as I do when I look at you! Don't you do anything to ruin your appearance. I for one love your eye wrinkles. They give you character. You don't need BOTOX _or_ an eye lift, so forget about it! Your lips, they're so kissable as they are. Don't you dare change those." He began kissing Lily.

Lily wrapped her arms around him, and they soon made it to the bedroom. In fact, by the time they had undressed, Lily had forgotten they were still having a conversation.

"And your breasts..." Rufus trailed off as he bent down and began fondling her breasts, lifting them up to kiss them one at a time. "Are perfect. _You're_ perfect! Everything about you is perfect, so don't you dare even think about fixing one part of your body. You here me?"

Lily nodded, out of breath, even though they had barely just begun. "Yes, I promise. Just make love to me, please?"

Rufus' eyes lowered. "I'm going to make love to you until you feel as beautiful as I see you as."

Lily smiled, and gently stroked his cheek. "I love you so much. I'm so lucky to have you."

Rufus shook his head. _I'm_ the lucky one, Lil. And you know what else?"

Lily shook her head. "What?"

"You may not have won Queen of the reunion, but you'll always be the queen of my heart."

Lily was so touched, she had tears in her eyes. She suddenly felt silly for ever being so concerned with her looks. She kissed Rufus, and then let him make her feel beautiful, even though he had more than already done that.


	4. Wrath

_**I Wanna Be Bad: 7 Deadly Sins**_

_**Wrath**_

_ "Men often make up in wrath what they want in reason." - William R. Alger_

"I'm so glad we're going out just the two of us! Do you even remember when the last time we had a date night was?" Lily asked as she rolled some perfume onto her neck.

Rufus appeared behind her, his hands around her waist, and he smiled. "Far too long. But you know what my favorite part of date nights is?"

Lily smiled at their reflection in the mirror. She had a pretty good idea, but she wanted to hear it anyway. "What's that?"

Rufus slowly slide the straps of Lily's red dress down her shoulders. "I like the part that comes _after_ the date. You know the part when we get home and head up to bed."

Lily smiled. "You mean when we go to sleep?"

Rufus shook his head. "_No_, when we do something that makes us so tired we need to go to sleep."

Lily pushed her straps back up her shoulders, then turned around and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Oh, yes. I remember now. That _is_ a rather fun part of the night, isn't it?" She grinned.

Rufus raised his eyebrows up and down suggestively. "Wanna practice before we head out?"

Lily smirked. "We have reservations in a half hour. Even _you_ can't work that fast."

"Wanna bet?" Rufus asked.

Lily shook her head. "Behave," she warned. "Zip me up?" She turned her back towards him.

Rufus groaned his complaint, but carefully zipped her up anyway. "You're killing me!"

Lily smiled shyly over her shoulder. "That comes tonight. And I do mean comes."

Rufus moaned again, and followed her down the stairs and into the elevator.

"Mm, this is really good. You should have ordered this!" Lily said after swallowing a bite of her lemon chicken.

Rufus shook his head. "Something like that sounds too feminine to order. I can only see girls ordering that."

Lily rolled her eyes. "That's absurd! I've heard a lot of things in my life, but I have to say food having genders is something I've never heard before."

"It has a gender before they kill it," Rufus stated, taking a bite of his pasta.

Lily crinkled her nose. "That's disgusting."

Rufus laughed. "Well, it does!" He smiled. "You're cute when you crinkle your nose."

Lily rolled her eyes again, but crinkled her nose again nevertheless.

Rufus bit his bottom lip and smiled. "I can hardly wait to get you home in bed. But it's going to have to wait until I try some of that chocolate lava cake over there." He nodded towards the dessert cart.

Lily shook her head, and went back to her chicken. "You and your junk food. I should put you on a diet." She held up another forkful of chicken to her husband. "Please try some. For me?"

Rufus swallowed the last bit of his pasta, then wiped his mouth and sighed. "All right, give it here." He leaned across the table and opened his mouth.

Lily smiled—pleased—and fed him a bite.

Rufus chewed it for a moment, then swallowed. "Not bad," he said with a slight nod.

Lily's smile turned into a grin. "See? It doesn't have to be feminine at all!"

"Well, actually, Lil, it does. The boys are called roosters," Rufus teased.

Lily licked her lips, and decided to tease her husband. "Well, in the UK, they refer to male chickens as cocks." She slipped off her shoe, and gently reached underneath the table with her foot to gently caress his frontal region to prove her point.

If Rufus had still been eating his spaghetti, he surly would have choked. "Okay, I'm getting that cake, then I'm getting you home."

Lily placed her foot back in her shoe. She nodded towards the waiter. "You can order now." Her phone beeped, signaling a text. She read it as Rufus ordered his volcano cake.

"You want any Lil?" he asked, nodding towards her.

Lily looked up at him. "I just got a text from Charles. He needs to see me in his hotel. He says it's urgent."

"Well, I can get the cake to go," Rufus offered.

Lily shook her head. "No, you stay here and enjoy your dessert. He also requested that just I come. He says it's a mother son issue."

Rufus sighed. "Well, all right. Do you want me to go there after and walk you home?"

Lily stood up. "No, I'm sure Chuck will send me home in one of his limos. You know him. Bless his heart."

Rufus stood up as well, and kissed his wife. "All right. I'll see you in a bit. Try not to be too late. Tell Chuck I said hello."

Lily kissed him. "I won't be to late and I'll tell him you said hello."

Rufus pulled her in for one last kiss, then Lily smiled at him and left.

Rufus sighed, and sat back down.

"You still want that cake, Sir?" the waiter asked.

Rufus nodded. "Please. And some milk."

Lily knocked on Chuck's door, hoping that is wasn't a serious problem for both her son's sake and her husband's. She knew Rufus didn't want her to be long, but if Chuck needed her, she wasn't going to rush her time with him just because Rufus wanted some sexy time.

"Charles? It's Lily. Are you okay?" Lily asked after a moment.

Suddenly, the door opened and she was roughly pulled in.

"What in the world, Ch—" Lily cut herself off as she realized it hadn't been Chuck that had pulled her in, but his uncle instead.

Jack shut and locked the door behind them, then turned to face Lily. "Hello, Lily. You're looking hotter than ever."

Lily's eyes darted around the room. "Charles? Charles, where are you?" Her heart was pounding in her chest. _Not again. Oh please, not again._ Chuck had saved her the last time. But would she be so lucky this time?

Jack smirked. "He's not here, Lily. He's not here to save you this time."

"But he sent me a text," Lily said, backing towards the couch.

Jack shook his head. "I heard he was going to be out of town in the Bahamas for the weekend with Blair. She made it a rule that, if they were going to work on their relationship, he couldn't do any business while on the vacation. So, she made him leave his phone at home. Not being able to pass this opportunity over, I broke into his room, found his phone, and texted you. It was quite easy, really."

"How did you get past security? How did you get in this room?" Lily asked.

Jack shrugged. "I have my ways. I'm still a Bass. You should know, Lily, a Bass always gets what he wants." He walked over to her, and gently stroked her cheek. "And I never did get you. My stupid nephew put a stop to that, didn't he? Well, he's not here to stop me now."

Lily made to slap him, but he caught her wrist and stopped her. "Now, Lily! Is that anyway to treat someone who is about to give you mind-blowing pleasure?"

"Jack, stop it! I mean it!" Lily cried out as Jack closed the last bit of distance between them.

"Or what, Lily? You'll send Rufus after me? I can take him." Jack roughly pushed her down onto the bed, and pulled at the straps of her dress. He was strong, and they tore right off, causing the front of her dress to fall down.

Jack smirked. "No bra. Nice..." He ran his hands over her breasts.

"Stop it!" Lily screamed, trying with all her might to push him away.

Jack slapped her hard across the face. "Stop it, bitch, and you won't get hurt! You don't even have to do any work! Just lay back and enjoy the ride!"

Lily was panicked, but she couldn't let Jack do this to her. There was no way. She did the first thing that came to her mind. She poked him hard in the eyes with her index and middle fingers. He cried out in pain, and held onto his eyes. She then used that opportunity bring it home. She kneed him as hard as she could in the groin.

That did it. He screamed in pain, and fell backwards, grabbing onto his lower region as if that could stop the pain. "You bitch!" he screamed.

"That's the last time you're **ever** going to touch me! You here me?" She kicked him hard in the shins, then held her dress up, and ran out of the hotel room and into an elevator, which thankfully had just opened, an elderly couple exiting onto the floor.

Once she got to the lobby, she ran out, sobbing. She held her dress up with on hand, and hailed a taxi with the other.

Her heart still raced, and the tears still flowed down her cheeks even as the taxi took her safely away from the hotel.

Rufus smiled when he heard the elevator doors open. "Good, you're home! How did things go?" He looked up, and his mouth dropped open when he saw Lily holding up her torn dress. "What the hell? What happened to you?" He rushed over to her, and took her into his arms.

Lily had managed to stop crying, but, now that she was in Rufus' arms, she broke down into tears again. "He tried to rape me!"

"What? Chuck?" Rufus couldn't believe his ears.

Lily shook her head. "No. Charles wasn't even there. He's away at the Bahamas with Blair. She made him leave his cell phone at home so he wouldn't be tempted to do business while they're away. Jack found this out, then broke into Charles' suite. He texted me from Charles' phone, and then pulled me in the room, locked the door behind us, and tossed me onto the couch. He tore my dress and ran his disgusting hands over my breasts. When I tried to push him off me, he slapped me. He called me a bitch, and told me to shut up. He said I didn't have to do any of the work. That I was to just sit back and enjoy the ride and I wouldn't get hurt. I only got free by poking his eyes and kicking him hard in the groin."

Rufus clenched his fists. "I'm going to kill him. I'm going to rip his dick off and shove it down his throat, I swear!" He headed for the elevator.

Lily grabbed his arm. "Rufus, no! Please! I called the cops from my cell phone. They are probably there already. I don't want you getting in trouble for assault. You know Jack. He'll see to it that you get in trouble even if it's defending my honor."

Rufus stopped. "He needs to pay for what he's done, Lil. He tried to rape my wife, not once, but twice now! I'm not going to be satisfied with jail. He has to pay a much stronger price."

"I need to go to the police station to give my statement. I have to get dressed, then head over there. I told them I'd be there," Lily said.

"Well, I'm going with you," Rufus said, not only wanting to be there for his wife, but also hoping to see Jack there so he could make him pay.

Lily nodded. "I'll go change." She headed up stairs.

Rufus punched the couch hard. "Damn it!" Jack had messed with his wife two too many times. Now he had to pay. Rufus was going to see to it.

Lily had given her statement, and was allowed to go home.

Rufus slowly led her out of the station, more than a little upset that he hadn't seen Jack.

However, just as they were leaving, Jack came in, escorted by a police officer.

Jack smiled smugly at Rufus. "Your wife has nice breasts. _Man_ what I could have done with those if the little bitch hadn't poked me in the eyes and kicked me where it counted."

That was it. Rufus lunged for Jack. Unfortunately, two officers surrounded him and held onto him; preventing him from making contact with Jack.

Jack laughed. "Sorry, Rufus, but you can't get to me here. Maybe once my lawyer gets me out on bail—which should be within the hour—we can have a go at it. What do you say? Winner get's Lily?"

Rufus let out an animalistic growl that barely even _he_ recognized as he roughly lunged at Jack again. He vaguely heard Lily telling him to stop, but he couldn't. He managed to grab Jack's neck this time, but only for a split second before the officers pulled him away.

"Knock it off unless you want to be held overnight for assault!" one of the officers snapped at him.

"Assault? He's the one who tried to rape my wife!" Rufus snarled, pointing at Jack with disgust. He wanted to spit in his face.

"I know, and he is scum. But let the law handle it, okay? Your wife needs you to be there for her—not in jail." The officer nodded towards Jack. "Especially not because of him."

Rufus sighed. The officer was right. He had to be there for Lily.

"Please, Rufus, can we just go home?" Lily asked, tears in her eyes again.

Rufus nodded. "All right! I'm sorry. Can you please let me go?" Rufus asked the officers, who were still holding tightly onto his arms.

"Don't you try anything or we will put you in jail," the officer on the right warned.

"I'm just going to take my wife home. You have my word," Rufus promised.

The officers released Rufus' arms, and Rufus took Lily into his arms. "Let's go, Baby."

Lily nodded, and buried her face in Rufus' shoulder as he led her out.

As Rufus and Lily passed him, Jack tried once more to get Rufus' goat. He turned to Lily. "You don't know what you're missing, Babe. I could make you feel a million times better than _this_ loser ever could." He nodded at Rufus, then rapidly flicked his tongue in and out at Lily.

"_Don't_," Lily warned Rufus so forcefully that Rufus had to listen to her. She was clinging tightly to him anyway, and he couldn't have attacked Jack if he wanted to.

"Let's go," he said to her.

Lily nodded. "Thank you."

Rufus rubbed her back, and gently led her outside, where he hailed a cab for them. He had to get away from Jack or he would kill him. He really would.

"I want to kill him, Lil. He's right. He'll probably be out on bail within the hour. You know the Bass' lawyers. They're like the fricking Mafia! They can get anything done that they want to get done." Rufus was pacing the room. He couldn't let Jack get off Scott-Free for this. No way. He had to pay.

"Rufus, please. Can we not talk about this tonight? I need to be with you. Please. Help me forget what happened tonight. I don't need anything else to remind me of it or make me upset about it." Lily held her arms out to him. "Please?"

Rufus looked at her, and his anger melted away for the moment. He still wanted to kill Jack, but right now, his wife was all that mattered. He sat down next to her on the bed and kissed her. "I promise you'll never be put in that position ever again. I'm going to protect you. I promise!"

Lily gently stroked some hair out of his eyes. "You can't protect me all the time."

"Watch me!" Rufus said, not a hint of a joke in his voice.

Lily kissed him. "I love you."

"I hate that he touched you. Only I'm allowed to touch you," Rufus grumbled. That was another thing that was making him so angry. How dare Jack touch what was his? Especially without his wife's permission? He wanted to kill him. Or at least hurt him.

"Make love to me, Rufus. Please? I need to feel you. I need to have your hands on me. I want all traces of Jack off of me. Please?" Lily begged.

Rufus gently stroked her cheek. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Please," Lily quietly pleaded. "I need this."

Rufus' eyes lowered, and he took her face between his hands. He gently kissed his wife, and soon they were undressing. He needed this too. He needed to show Lily how much he loved her, and that he was never going to let anyone else touch her ever again! She was his and his alone, and he would die before he let Jack or any one else even lay a finger on her again!

As he made love to her, he gently kissed her breasts. "No one is ever going to touch these but me ever again! They're mine." He growled.

Lily smirked. "Well, if they're yours then let me give you my bras. I won't need them anymore if you're going to be the one with breasts."

Rufus chuckled. "Cute." He was glad she was joking now. It was a sign that she was going to be okay and not totally traumatized by almost being raped twice by that scumbag. He wouldn't blame her a bit if she was. He kissed her lips. "You're so beautiful. I'm so lucky to have you as my wife."

"I'm the lucky one to have you as my husband," Lily said, smiling her beautiful smile, and gently stroking his cheek.

Rufus' eyes lowered again, filled with so much love for her, he thought he might burst.

Her moans and whimpers as he made love to her were more than enough to drive him over the edge, but he held back until he was able to bring her to climax first. It was more important to him than anything at that moment.

Finally, he was able to let go as well. He held her close as he cried out her name. He stroked her hair and kissed her. "I love you so much! You have no idea how much I love you. You can't even imagine!" he said before kissing her again, his hands gently roaming over her breasts.

She held his face between her hands, and smiled. "If it's even a quarter of how much I love you, I have a pretty good idea."

They grinned at each other.

She rested her head on Rufus' chest. "So, how was your chocolate lava cake?"

Rufus chuckled. Leave it to Lily to almost be raped and still wonder how his dessert had been. He kissed the top of her bed. "It was delicious, but not as delicious as you are."

Lily smiled up at him, and they kissed. She rested her head on his chest again. "Jack was wrong. He could _never_ pleasure me in the way you do."

Rufus felt his anger rising again. Even just the _thought_ of Jack trying to pleasure Lily—without her permission especially—" Rufus couldn't even finish the thought. It was replaced by an image of him stabbing Jack in the head with the biggest, sharpest knife he could find, then cutting up the rest of his body and burning it. He would burn the knife as well. There would be no proof left.

"What's wrong? Are you still letting this get to you?" Lily asked, stroking some hair out of his eyes.

Rufus shook his head. "No," he lied. "I'm just thinking that you're never going to have to go through that again."

Lily ran her hand over his chest. "My big strong husband. My hero." She kissed his chest, then closed her eyes, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Rufus held her close, and gently stroked her hair. Jack would pay. The timing just had to be perfect. Then, he would strike. Jack had best watch his back if he knew what was good for him. Not that that would help, because it wouldn't.

Jenny wasn't home from her mother's yet, and Rufus and Lily found no need to call and tell her what had happened. It was the same for Scott. Serena, however, had been appalled, as had Eric and Dan.

"I don't want to upset your mother, but Jack has to pay. I want to kill him!" Rufus said to them the next day when Lily was taking a nap.

Serena shook her head. "He'll get what's coming to him once Chuck gets home, don't worry. In fact, he and Blair should be back at any moment. They come back today. Blair didn't want to be gone from the baby too long," she said regarding Blair's maid Dorota's baby. Blair thought of the baby as a little sister, which she was in a way since her mother and stepfather were the godparents.

"I'm your mother's husband. I need to take care of this. Jack can't get away with this," Rufus said.

"What are you going to do?" Dan asked.

"Kill him," Rufus said simply.

"Rufus, you can't. If you kill him, you'll go to jail, and my mom needs you. It will kill _her_ if you go to jail. Do you really want to do that?" Eric asked.

Dan nodded. "And you know she'll feel even worse about the situation knowing you went to jail to protect her. Jenny and I need you besides."

"I'll find a way to do it without being caught," Rufus said simply.

"That's it. I'm calling Blair. She has her phone in case of an absolute emergency. She'll answer if I call." Serena left to call her best friend. Blair had to know so that she could tell Chuck. Rufus had to be stopped before things were made even worse.

"I attack as soon as it gets dark," Rufus said, even angrier knowing that Jack was back in his own comfortable bed. The paper had reported that he had indeed gotten out that night on bail shortly after Rufus and Lily had left. He had to pay.

That night, Rufus was ready to make up an excuse to Lily about why he had to leave. He had decided he wouldn't kill Jack, but he would make him wish he had.

However, before he could do so, the elevator doors opened, and in walked Chuck.

Chuck rushed over to Lily, and took her into his arms. "I'm so sorry for what my uncle tried to do to you! I should have been there to stop him!"

Lily held her son close, and smiled down at him. "It's okay, Charles." She brushed some hair out of his eyes. "You had no way of knowing."

"Well, the security has all been fired. I hired new security who can be more competent. Also, I had a new lock system put it as well as even more cameras in the hotel. It won't happen again, I assure you. And, from now on, my phone goes with me everywhere. But you won't have to worry about Jack any longer. He's back in jail, and he's going to get done to him what he tried to do to you. In fact, he'll get it done to him several times I'm sure, though not by his gender of choice." Chuck smirked.

"What? How?" Lily asked, surprised.

"Let's just say I have my ways. He's going to be in jail for a while, and if he ever gets out, he'll be sure to leave town. I assure you," Chuck stated. "That's all I can tell you."

"Well, thank God for that!" Lily said. She pulled Chuck close. "Thank you, Charles."

Chuck smiled at her, and hugged her in return. "Anything for my mother."

Lily had tears in her eyes, she was so touched. She hugged him again.

"Let's celebrate!" Serena said. "I'll treat everyone to dinner at that new Italian restaurant that opened up."

Lily grinned. "You don't have to do that."

Serena hugged her mother. "I want to."

Lily kissed her daughter's cheek, and held her closer.

Rufus pulled Chuck to the side. "How did you do it?"

Chuck smirked. "You don't want to know."

"Yes, actually, I do," Rufus corrected him.

"Trust me. It's better you don't know," Chuck said nonchalantly.

"Well, thank you. You stopped me from doing something stupid," Rufus said, relieved that Jack was paying without him having to had done something. It had been stupid to risk doing something that could get him caught and put in jail away from Lily and their kids. He had just been so angry!

Chuck placed his hand over Rufus shoulder. "Don't mention it. I'm just glad he's paying and you're not."

Rufus nodded, then gently pat Chuck's shoulder before heading over to Lily. He placed his arm around his wife's waist, and they kissed.

He guessed, in the end, all that really mattered was that Lily was safe, and that he was here with her.

"Let's go eat!" Serena said.

"Sounds good to me!" Rufus said, patting his stomach.

Lily shook her head at his appetite, but grinned nevertheless. She kissed her husband, and they all headed out to the restaurant.

Rufus finally felt his anger slipping away. Well, maybe not fully. But is love for Lily overpowered it, so he went with that. It was much better that way. He smiled at the thought, and squeezed his wife's waist tighter. No one would ever touch her like Jack had again—no one but him. He'd see to it.


	5. Sloth

_**I Wanna Be Bad: 7 Deadly Sins**_

_**Sloth**_

"_Diligence overcomes difficulties, sloth makes them." - Benjamin Franklin_

"Lil? Are you home?"

"I'm up here!" Lily called from the bedroom.

Rufus took the stairs two at a time as he rushed up the stairs to tell his wife the good news. He smiled when he saw her sitting in front of her vanity, brushing her hair.

"Guess what?" he asked her with a grin.

She grinned back and set her hairbrush down. "What?"

"I got the job!" he said, his excitement more than clear in his tone.

"You did?" Lily squealed in delight, then jumped out of her chair, and ran to him.

They embraced, then kissed.

Lily stroked some hair out of his eyes. "Congratulations, My darling. I knew you could do it!" Rufus had applied for a manager position at a new art gallery that had just opened up. Rufus had just gotten back from meeting with the owner.

Rufus nodded, unable to quit smiling. "He said I had the most experience, since I had owned a gallery. He said, if anything, I'm _over_ qualified, but, in all fairness, he had to give it to me since I was best suited for the job."

Lily continued stroking his hair. "I'm so proud of you!" She took his face between her hands then, and pulled him in for another sweet kiss.

Rufus moaned, and gently led her backwards towards the bed. "Wanna celebrate?" He smiled against her lips, and wriggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

Lily smiled against his lips as well. "Eric and Dan will be home anytime now from picking up Jenny at the train station. Can it wait until tonight?"

Rufus groaned, and gently rubbed himself against her. "I suppose. But come tonight..."

Lily smiled, and brushed some more hair out of his eyes. "Trust me, we'll have one hell of a private celebration tonight."

Rufus moaned, then pulled her closer and kissed her.

"We're home!" came Dan's voice from down stairs just then.

Rufus broke the kiss, and moaned. "He's always had bad timing."

Lily smirked, then took her husband's hand. "Let's go greet them."

"Oh, by the way, do you have any plans for tomorrow evening at six?" Rufus asked as they headed out of the bedroom and into the hallway.

Lily shook her head, then looked up at him. "No, why?"

"Well, the boss wants to take us to Per Se with his wife for dinner. He wants to meet my other half." Rufus kissed his wife's hand.

Lily kissed his cheek. "Of course I'll go! I'm eager to meet your new boss as well. He has great taste in his employees after all. At least, he does for his manager anyway."

Rufus kissed her lips, then they headed down the stairs together. He felt like the luckiest man alive to have the best wife in the world.

"Dad!" Jenny cried out when she saw her father.

"Jenny!" Rufus ran to her and hugged her tightly. He kissed the top of her head, then held her out to give her a look over. She looked like her usual self, only toned down just a bit. Her makeup, for once, wasn't overdone, and there wasn't a big of Goth in her clothes. "How did you like staying with your mother?"

Jenny smirked. "Don't get me wrong—I love mom. It's just that staying with mom made me appreciate that I live with _you_—even if it _is_ in Manhattan." Jenny smiled at Lily. "And it even made me appreciate Lily a lot more. No offense to Mom, but she can be quite overbearing."

Lily smiled at her stepdaughter, glad to see Jenny's opinion of her had changed for the better.

Jenny turned her attention back to her father. "Gosh, sometimes she has more rules than you, Dad!"

Rufus laughed. "She must have been quite strict!

Jenny nodded. "Trust me—strict is the understatement of the millennium! Though, I guess, with the way I acted before I arrived there, it made her think she had to be."

"Well, what matters is that you're here now. Wait until you see your new room! I just know you're going to love it!" Lily said, giving her a half hug.

Jenny half-hugged her in return, and grinned brightly up at her. "New room? Can I go see it?"

Lily nodded. "Let's go!"

Lily and Jenny then rushed up stairs with Rufus, Eric, and Dan right behind them.

Jenny's mouth literally dropped open when she saw her new room. "Oh my gosh, Lily, this is incredible! You did all this for me?"

Lily smiled and nodded at her stepdaughter.

Jenny turned to her. "After what I tried to do to you and my dad?"

Lily swatted the air. "That's not even worth mentioning. No harm done. It's all in the past."

Jenny ran to her and hugged her, much to Lily's and everyone else's surprise. "Thank you. This means so much to me. I actually feel like I belong here now."

Lily smiled, and gently stroked Jenny's hair. "You do, Jenny. Your'e part of the family, and you always will be."

Jenny smiled at her. "I couldn't ask for a better family!"

Lily grinned.

"This is so sweet, I think I'm going to cry. Come on. Group hug!" Rufus said with a sniffle.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Da-ad!"

"Yeah, is this really necessary?" Dan asked.

"Oh come on! One group hug is not gonna kill you," Rufus said to him.

"Darn!" Jenny joked.

Eric laughed, and high-fived her.

Dan stuck out his tongue at his siblings.

They then all piled in for a group hug, in the end, none of them really caring if it was a little bit cheesy.

The next morning, Lily woke up to an empty spot beside her. She found a note from Rufus on his pillow.

_Lil, I didn't want to wake you. You were sleeping so peacefully. You're so beautiful when you sleep. I had to leave for work. Don't forget tonight at six is the big dinner! I love you. -Rufus_

Lily smiled. She was so lucky to have a husband like Rufus! She stretched, and then got out of bed and headed downstairs. She found Jenny sitting at the island, eating a bowl of cereal. "Lily! Just the person I wanted to see!"

Lily smiled, and headed over to her daughter. "Oh? Why's that?"

"Well, I want to make a dress for my favorite teacher as a surprise birthday gift. You're the same height and build that she is, so I was wondering if you could be my living mannequin so to speak? Regular mannequins just don't give the perfect fit," Jenny explained.

Lily went into the fridge for some orange juice. "Well, I don't see why not. When is her birthday?"

Jenny blushed. "The day after tomorrow."

"Yipes!" Lily took out a glass, and poured herself a glass of orange juice. "That doesn't give us much time, does it?" She took a sip.

Jenny shook her head. "No. But, if we work real hard today, I can get it done by tomorrow!"

Lily finished her juice, and rinsed her glass in the sink. "Sure thing! Just let me shower first and get ready for the day."

Jenny nodded. "Of course!"

Lily put her glass in the dishwasher, and was about to head upstairs when Serena came in through the elevators. "Mom! Why aren't you dressed yet? I told Blair we'd meet her and her mother in front of Bendel's in a half hour!"

Lily was confused. "For what?"

Serena rolled her eyes. "You know, the mother daughter sale I've only been telling you about for the past week! Bring your mother and you get not only fifty percent off, but a buy one get one."

It finally dawned on Lily. She put her hand to her forehead. "Oh yes! How could I have forgotten?" She glanced at Jenny. "But I promised Jenny I'd be her model for the day."

Jenny gave her a small smile. "It's all right. I won't miss you if you're only gone for a couple hours. I can work on the matching purse."

Lily smiled at her stepdaughter; grateful. Jenny really _had_ changed. "Thank you, Jenny. I promise I won't be out too long."

"Well, then you better go up those stairs and get ready! Time is ticking, Mom." Serena tapped on her silver Rolex.

Lily playfully squealed. "I'm going, I'm going!" She ran up the stairs, glad that both her daughters needed her. It felt good to be needed.

"I think we pretty much cleaned the store out!" Lily joked and she, Serena, Eleanor, and Blair exited Bendel's, their hands all laden with shopping bags.

"And to think we still have Barney's and Bloomingdale's to hit!" Blair said.

"Wait, I thought we just had the one store?" Lily asked.

"What? Lily, the sale is going on everywhere," Blair said, seemingly amused that Lily hadn't known that.

"But I promised Jenny I wouldn't be long," Lily said.

"Mom, she said you could go a couple hours and she wouldn't miss you. It's only been forty-five minutes since we left the house. Chill out," Serena chastised. "Besides, I asked you about this way before she asked you to be her model. Remember?"

Lily sighed. She didn't want to get into it with Serena right now—not when they were with friends. Besides, she supposed Serena had a point—to some extent anyway. "Oh all right! But just Barney's and Bloomingdale's, then I have to get back to Jenny."

Serena nodded. "Fine. Whatever."

They headed down the street. Lily just hoped the girls didn't take forever to shop, like they had a habit of doing.

Lily rushed into the house the second the elevator doors opened. "Jenny! I'm so sorry! The girls insisted of having dessert after lunch, and it took forever. Oh, Sweetie, I'm so sorry!" There had been a half an hour left after shopping, and Eleanor and the girls had insisted on having lunch before heading home. Serena insisted Lily had to eat anyway, and that it wouldn't make her all _that_ late. Well, lunch had turned out to be an hour and fifteen minutes, and that wasn't counting the time it took to get back home.

"It's all right. I got the purse made, and even a barrette to go with it. What matters is that you're here now. Can you go put on a swim suit or something? I can best get your measurements that way, seeing as this is going to be a semi tight dress." Jenny smirked. "I think my teacher could use something a little less frumpy. Maybe then she'll actually find a man."

Lily smirked as well. "I'll be right down. I'll go change into my swimsuit."

"Thanks!" Jenny said with a smile.

Five minutes later, Lily was back downstairs, her arms held out at her sides as Jenny took all her measurements.

Eric came into the apartment then. He set two grocery bags down on the counter, and smirked at his mother. "Where's the pool party?"

Lily smirked. "Haha. Jenny wants to make a dress for her teacher, who has a similar build as me. She is using me to take the measurements for the dress."

Eric looked at his stepsister. "Why didn't you just take your teacher's measurements?"

Jenny rolled her eyes. "It's a surprise. Obviously I would have if it wasn't."

Eric stuck his tongue out at her, causing him to get a nasty look from her in return.

He turned his attention back to his mother. "Mom, my gay-straight alliance club is having a bake sale to raise money for more comfortable chairs in our meeting room, and we all know I can't bake."

"I know _that's_ right!" Jenny quipped.

Eric ignored her. "_So_, can you please make me some cupcakes, Mom?"

"Sure, honey. When is the bake sale?" Lily asked.

Eric blushed. "Um, tonight? I'm sorry. I kept forgetting to ask you."

Lily sighed. "I have a lot going on already today, Eric."

"Why don't you just by something?" Jenny asked.

Eric glanced at her. "It's supposed to be homemade. People will know if I bought something."

"Who cares?" Jenny asked.

"I do!" Eric answered.

Lily sighed. "I suppose. But next time don't wait until the last minute. All right?"

Eric nodded and grinned. "Thanks, Mom! You're the best!" He nodded towards the counter. I bought the ingredients. All you gotta do it make them!"

"Put the eggs in the fridge. I'll get to it soon," Lily ordered.

"I need them by five o'clock tonight," Eric said as he did as instructed.

"Five tonight? Eric!" Lily complained.

Eric shrugged. "Thanks, Mom! I gotta go get changed." He ran up the stairs before his mother could protest anymore.

Jenny finished taking Lily's measurements, then went to her sewing machine. "I have to make the dress now, so you can do what you have to do while I do that."

Lily nodded. "Well, I might as well make them now then." She sighed, and headed into the kitchen to begin making the cupcakes.

The elevator doors opened, and in walked Chuck. "Lily, good, you're here. I'm having the hotel redecorated, and I figured, instead of paying a professional decorator, I'd ask my mother. You have impeccable style, and frankly, I know you'd do a heck of a lot better than anyone else would when it comes to designing it. Do you think you could take a look at these books and pick out what you think is the nicest? You'll find wallpaper schemes, color schemes for the carpets, and a variety of miscellaneous things." He set three thick books down on the island.

Lily glanced at them. "Can it wait until tomorrow, Charles? I have so much to do already today."

Chuck shook his head. "Actually, the contractor is coming tomorrow. I know It's last minute, but it's the only time I could fit him in. He _is_ the best in the city."

Again, Lily sighed. "Well, can I do it tonight? I have an important dinner to go to with Rufus and his boss and boss' wife."

Chuck nodded. "Sure, as long as it's done by tonight."

Dan came into the apartment then. "Hey, Lily, can you help me with my English homework? I know you said you were really good at it. I have a final tomorrow, and really need to pass it."

Lily was about ready to pull out her hair, but she knew how important a good education was. "I'll need a half hour or so, but then I suppose I can help you. I'm extremely busy tonight though, so I can only help for a half hour or so."

Dan nodded. "Thank you. That's all I ask."

Lily finished making the cupcakes, then put them into the oven.

She then sat down at the table to help Dan with his English while Jenny continued to sew the dress.

Rufus came home, smiling brightly. "Look, the whole family is here! Well, except for Serena, but she's never home anymore. And, except for Scott. Wait. Where is Scott?" Rufus asked.

"Um, Boston?" Lily asked as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Lil! Today is the day he arrives for a visit! You were supposed to pick him up at the bus station an hour ago! Did you forget?" Rufus asked.

Lily suddenly felt sick. "Oh no. Why didn't you remind me in the note you wrote me?"

"Lil! I didn't think I'd have to remind you to pick up our son whom we haven't seen since last spring!" Rufus said, incredulously.

Lily threw her hands in the air. "Well, I'm sorry, Rufus! I just had a lot on my plate today."

"What could be more important than remembering to pick up our son from the bus station?" Rufus asked.

"Oh, Rufus, relax! It's not life-threatening," Lily said. She felt bad, but did Rufus really have to nag her so hard about it?"

"Great! I'm going to go pick him up even though I should be getting ready for the dinner tonight. Thanks, Lil. I appreciate it!" Rufus said sarcastically.

"Rufus!" Lily protested. _Why is he being so hard nosed?_ She had no idea.

"Awesome! It's all worked out. Now, Lily, can you please help me? Who would have thought you'd still have diagrams in college? And could _War and Peace_ be any more boring?" Dan asked.

Lily rolled her eyes. Whatever. If Rufus wanted to be an ass, then let him.

She turned her attention back to her stepson, and smiled as she continued to explain to Dan how to do diagrams. As for the book, well, she hadn't read it in a _long_ time, so he was on his own with that one!

After a half hour, Lily was finished tutoring Dan with his English.

"But I need a little more help with my grammar," Dan said.

"Tough! I asked for her help first, and I need her to put the dress on now so I can alter it," Jenny said. "Besides, Dan, did you learn nothing in high school? How did you pass?"

"Well, no one remembers everything they knew in high school," Dan protested.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "It was only a year ago."

Lily smiled apologetically at Dan. "I'm sorry, Honey, but I did promise your sister first." She gently rubbed his arm. "You'll do all right. I think you're finally getting the hang of it."

She got up and headed over to Jenny, who helped her slip the dress on. She was still wearing her bathing suit, so the dress went right over Lily's suit like it would had she been in her underwear.

Jenny looked Lily over, remeasuring parts she was unsure of, and pinning them to the right places.

After ten minutes, something started to smell burnt.

Lily gasped. "The cupcakes! I forgot to set the timer!" She ran over to the oven, not thinking.

Jenny gasped as part of the dress ripped, due to Lily running while Jenny still had part of the dress in her hand.

"I'm sorry!" Lily said with a wince. She turned the oven off, and grabbed the oven mitts. She then opened the oven door and took the cupcakes out, only to find that they had burnt. "Oh no!" she cried, setting them down on a rack.

Eric came rushing down the stairs. "Mom! Now I have to buy new ingredients! I don't know if there is time for me to do that, and for you to make them again!"

"My poor dress! Now I have to start all over!" Jenny whined as she looked at the torn chunk of material in her hands.

"Lily, I really need help with this. Can't you help me just a little bit longer?" Dan asked.

"That was the store owner to The Toilet Emporium. He needs to know within the hour which Toilet we need so that he can have them ready for pickup by tomorrow," Chuck said, hanging up his cell phone. "Lily, can you at a last look at the toilets before you leave?"

"I'm going to go pick up our son now. Don't forget to dress nice for the dinner tonight. Per Se _is_ a four-star restaurant," Rufus said to her.

Lily placed her hands over her ears and closed her eyes. "**Enough**! I can't take it anymore! I'm only human! I can't be pulled into all these different directions at once! I just can't!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, not caring who she startled, or how psychotic it might make her look. She then took the dress off, threw it down to the floor, and ran up the stairs, ignoring everyone's pleas for her to come back down.

She got to the bedroom, slammed and locked the door, then threw herself down onto her stomach on the bed, and cried. She was burnt out. She'd had enough, and everyone else was just going to have to deal with that.

Lily took a long, warm shower, then changed into her pajamas, and fell asleep for a while. She woke to Rufus gently knocking on the door. "Lil, can I come in please?"

Lily sighed. She looked at the clock. It was nine at night! She hadn't meant to sleep in _that_ late! She had just wanted a little relaxation time. She climbed out of bed, and unlocked the door. She saw Rufus standing there with a tray full of food in his hands.

Rufus gave her a sheepish smile. "You didn't eat dinner, so I brought you some."

Lily sighed, then went back over to the bed, and crawled under the covers again. She took the tray Rufus put over her lap as he climbed into bed next to her.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," he said.

Lily shook her head. "No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I promised I'd go to your special dinner, and I bailed on you. I was just so burned out! Everyone wanted something from me, and it all _had_ to be today. I just couldn't take it anymore." She saw that Rufus had brought her a slice of cheese pizza and a breadstick. She smirked at him. "Pizza Hut?"

Rufus grinned. "The kids and I went to Pizza Hut while you slept. After picking Scott up, I bought Eric some cupcakes from the bakery, and dropped them off at his club for him. He decided to skip the club so that he could spend time with Scott. Scott, it turns out, is very good in English. He must have gotten it from you. He helped Dan understand his English work before we went to Pizza Hut."

"And what about Jenny's dress? I feel just awful about it!" Lily took a sip of her Coke that Rufus had also brought up.

"She feels bad for getting so upset about it," Rufus answered.

"Well, she had reason to be," Lily said before taking another bite of her pizza.

"She had extra material, so she just made another dress, using Serena as her model." Rufus grinned. "I think the ice is finally starting to melt between the two, believe it or not."

"Is your boss really angry with you for skipping out on dinner? I feel like such a bad wife." Lily set her pizza down, suddenly not so hungry anymore.

"Lily, don't you ever say you're a bad wife! You're the best thing that ever happened to me!" Rufus gently stroked her hair. "I told him you weren't feeling very well, and that I needed to stay home and take care of you. He was completely understanding. He said he is glad to have a manager who is that caring. We rescheduled for next week."

Lily smiled. "You're too good to me." She kissed him. "I should at least look over those toilets for Charles."

Rufus shook his head. "Blair helped him. We all know she is the queen of design anyway. Well, according to her anyhow."

Lily smirked, then picked up her pizza again. She finished her meal while Rufus watched her in silence.

When she finished, Rufus took the tray from her. "To make it up to you, the kids and I are going to pamper you all day tomorrow. Serena is taking you to the spa for a seaweed wrap and a massage. Jenny is going to bring some snacks in and watch a movie with you in bed. She said she'll even give you a manicure. Scott is going to make you dinner. I told him he didn't have to since he is our guest, but he insisted on doing that for his mother."

Lily put a hand to her heart and smiled. She was too touched for words.

Rufus continued. "Eric said he is going to be your personal slave. He'll run you a bath or get you anything you might need. Though, he said when you have to go to the bathroom or change, you're on your own."

Lily laughed. "I'd have it no other way."

"Chuck is going to buy you enough books to fill a library, since he knows how much you love to read but never get the chance to, and Dan is going to cook you a special dessert to go with Scott's dinner," Rufus added.

Lily raised an eyebrow, and smirked. "And what are _you_ going to do for me? Hm?"

Rufus set the tray aside, then crawled underneath the covers with her. "I could give you foot massages, hot oil massages, or...' He began kissing down her neck. "I could make love to you at your disposal."

She smiled, a moan escaping her lips. "Do you wan to show me what you mean?"

He grinned. "Just a second." He got up and shut and locked the bedroom door, then stripped down to nothing. He then jumped into bed, and got under the covers on top of his wife. "Let's get these off you first." He tugged at Lily's pajama bottoms, then disappeared underneath the covers.

Lily giggled. She could get used to this!

The next day had been wonderful. It started off by Rufus bringing her breakfast in bed, followed by them making love for most of the morning. Next, Serena took her to the spa, where they got the most relaxing massages. The seaweed wraps they had gotten before that had left her feeling clean.

When she got home, Eric ran her a bubble bath with candles all around the tub, and a wonderful book that Chuck had bought for her.

After about an hour of soaking in a warm bubble bath and reading her book, Lily changed into her pajamas, and had Chinese food (which Jenny had picked up along with the snacks and movie) with Jenny while they watched _Driving Miss Daisy_.

After the movie, Lily did some more reading while sitting in the window seat that her bedroom had. She had enjoyed that, for she had always wanted a window seat as a teenager, yet, now that she finally had one, she hadn't gotten around to using hers much. It felt nice to actually use it for a change—especially when doing something as relaxing as reading.

After a couple hours of reading (where did the time go?), she went downstairs and enjoyed a delicious dinner made by Scott. It was so nice to have dinner with the whole family—especially when she hadn't had to cook it! He had made a lemon chicken with salt potatoes and green beans. It was all so good! He even had had a salad with Italian dressing for an appetizer.

After dinner, Dan brought out the creme brulée he had made for dessert. It was amazing!

The night was topped off with board games, which the kids acted like they actually enjoyed.

Then, after the board games, she and Rufus headed upstairs. Rufus gave her a full body massage with lavender scented hot oils, which led them to make love until they were tired. It was the perfect night.

Now that it was the next morning, Lily didn't want to get up. Rufus was already at work, and she was hungry for breakfast. She didn't feel like going downstairs, so she called Serena on her cell phone.

"Hello?" Serena asked, picking up after the third ring.

Lily smiled; glad her daughter had picked up. "Serena, Darling, can you please bring me up a bagel and cream cheese?"

Serena hesitated. "Um, sure, Mom. "You know, you _could_ just come down the stairs and get it yourself. I'm not trying to be rude; I'm just saying."

"I don't feel like it. I don't have much energy today." Lily yawned, proving her point.

Serena sighed. "I'll bring it up as soon as it's made."

Lily grinned. "Thank you, Honey. Oh, and don't forget the orange juice!"

"Yes, Mother." Had Lily been downstairs, she'd have seen her daughter rolling her eyes.

Lily hung up the phone, then lay back, her head propped up on her hands. She could get used to this! She wondered how much she could get out of the kids. After all she had done for them in the past, it wouldn't hurt to put them to work. Just for a day.

A "day" turned into a week. All throughout the week, Lily had her kids brining her meals in bed, doing the dishes, and vacuuming. Meanwhile, she got to relax in bed with good meals, good books, good TV, and good music. She never even had to lift a finger. It was fantastic! She had never felt better. Though, the kids had an entirely different take on the whole matter.

"Dad, you have to do something! Lily has become a lazy lump!" Jenny complained. She and her siblings had called a family meeting downstairs while Lily sat in a nice warm bubble bath upstairs. Of course, Lily had conned Rufus into running it for her. She even had him light candles and turn on soft music for her.

Rufus smirked; amused. "A lazy lump?"

Jenny nodded. "Well, that's what she looks like lying in bed all week!"

"Come one! It hasn't been _that_ bad, has it?" Rufus asked. He didn't mind taking care of his wife. All he really had to do for her lately was run her bubble baths.

"You're always at work lately, so you don't see how bad it's gotten! She's called me on my cell phone every morning with her breakfast order. You'd think she'd at least come down stairs to ask me, but no. She calls me even though I'm right downstairs, and expects me to bring it up for her!" Serena complained.

"She skipped our weekly get-together," Chuck said. "She never does that."

"She hasn't come down once to hang out with me. I would think my mother, whom I never get to see, would want to visit with me at least for a _little_ bit while I'm in town. I go home tonight already," Scott piped in.

"She want's daily manicures and pedicures. If I try to say I'm busy, she'll get all pouty, and guilt me into giving her them. She stays in bed all day, so why do her nails need to look good? Besides, nobody gets mani-pedis every day—not even Blair!" Jenny complained.

Serena nodded. "That's true."

"I had to scrape unidentifiable stuff off the dishes. No one bothered to rinse their plates, or even load the dishwasher for a week!" Eric stated.

Dan nodded. "And the house is a mess. I don't even live here, and I've been cleaning it, simply because I can't stand a mess!"

Rufus shook his head. "Guys, would it really kill you to do something nice for your mother? How long has she been taking care of you? Jenny, how long do mani-pedis take of your time? Maybe fifteen minutes a day? I don't think that is much to ask when she has taken us into her home and treated you and Dan like her own children."

He turned to Dan. "Nobody asked you to clean, but it was very nice of you to do it. Is it so bad to have to do something nice like help out once in a while?"

He looked at Chuck. "I don't think missing one get-together is something to worry over."

He looked at Eric. "And why should Lily be the only one to rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher anyway?" He looked all around. "It is something you _all_ should do—not just Lily."

He looked at Serena. "Do you know how many years your mother made _you_ breakfast? Now you're complaining because you have to make her breakfast for just a week?"

Finally, he looked at Scott. "I understand where you're coming from, but please excuse Lily. She's just burned out. You're always welcome here, but, unfortunately for you, you just happen to come at a bad time for your mother."

Scott nodded. "I guess I can understand that." He smiled sheepishly. "At least I got to spend some time with _you_!"

Jenny smirked. "And you consider that a _good_ thing?"

Rufus shot his daughter a look. "_Haha_. Very funny."

Serena held up her hands. "Mom is getting lazy. I don't mind making breakfast for her if I know there will be an end to it, but I don't see there being an end to it unless someone does something!" She headed for the elevators, but stopped, and turned her attention back to Rufus for a moment. "And even _I_ get my own breakfast now, thank you." She then turned and got onto the elevator, disappearing a moment later.

Jenny nodded. "Something needs to be done, Dad before she starts wanting me to dress her and brush her hair too." She headed up to her room.

Scott sighed. "Well, I'm going to go back to Dan's and start packing my things. I have to catch the bus back to Boston at eight."

Dan looked at his brother. "I'll go with you." He looked at Rufus. "It would be nice if Lily could manage to get herself out of bed for our last dinner together while Scott is still here."  
Scott politely nodded at Rufus. "See you guys tonight!"

Rufus hugged him. "See you soon."

Dan and Scott then left the apartment.

Rufus turned his attention to Eric and Chuck, who were both staring at him.

"Please fix mom before she even thinks about asking me to undress and redress her! I beg of you." Eric said before heading up the stairs to his room.

Rufus sighed, and looked at Chuck. "And _your_ parting words?" he said, only half joking.

Chuck stared at him in silence for a brief moment, before placing a hand overtop of his shoulder. "I love Lily. As far as I'm concerned, she is my mother. That being said, I suggest you take care of the problem. I care about her, and don't want to see her sink into this any further. I suggest you save her before she needs psychological help. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to attend to a meeting." Chuck then turned and left, disappearing as the elevator doors closed.

Rufus sighed. He really didn't think his wife was that bad! Why was everyone making such a big deal out of this? He couldn't understand it.

Rufus headed up the stairs, and into his and Lily's bedroom. He found her lying in bed, laughing while watching television.

Lily smiled when she saw him walk in. "I've been watching a marathon of _Seinfeld _all week. I can't believe I've never seen this show before! It's hysterical!"

Rufus shut the bedroom door and locked it, then went over, sat down beside her, and gently stroked her cheek. "Do you feel like having a little fun before we go out with Scott for his last dinner here?" He began kissing up her neck. "We haven't made love in days, come to think of it."

Lily looked around him at the TV screen. "Not now. I don't really feel like it right now. It takes up too much energy. Besides, I want to see how this ends."

_Takes up too much energy?_ In all his years of knowing his wife, he had never heard such a lame excuse from her in his life—especially when it came to making love! Okay, he was finally starting to see what the kids were seeing.

Rufus took the remote, and turned the television off.

Lily gasped. "Hey! I was watching that!" She tried to grab the remote from Rufus, but he held it away from her. "Give it back!"

Rufus shook his head. "No, Lily!" he said firmly.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

Rufus sighed. "Look, Lil, ever since the kids and I gave you that day to yourself, you've started not wanting to do anything for yourself. You call Serena on the cell phone when you're both in the house and ask her to make you breakfast. She's been doing it every week. The dishes have been piling up, the house is a mess, and you missed your weekly get-together with Chuck. Jenny's a teenager, so she doesn't exactly want to be giving her stepmother unnecessary mani-pedis every day. And, as for Scott, he's a little hurt that you hardly got to do anything together this week. He goes home tonight already!"

Lily's face crumpled a little. "It isn't going to kill them to do a little work for once."

Rufus nodded. "I agree, but they do need their mother too. I mean, don't you feel a little bad for only having had one or two meals with Scott and only one or two evenings with him since he arrived?"

Lily looked down at the bed, her expression holding a little guilt. "Yes."

"And you don't even want to make love with me because it takes up too much energy? Really, Lil?" Rufus asked, gently moving her chin up so that she was forced to look him in the eyes.

Lily smiled a little. "I guess that was kind of a bad excuse, huh?"

Rufus pretended to think about it. "Mm, maybe just a little."

They grinned at each other.

Lily sighed. "You're right! I feel awful. It was just that that one day of pampering felt so good after I got so burned out that I kind of got a little too used to being spoiled."

"Ya think?" Rufus asked with a grin.

Lily smiled.

Rufus gently stroked her hair. "It's all right. It's understandable. How about this? How about we give the kids each one chore to do a day? They can do that much at least. We can even alternate chores, so they don't get sick of doing the same one all the time. And, maybe in return, you can return to the living again?" Rufus grinned at her, and stroked her hair some more.

Lily laughed. "That sounds like a plan! I'll even get together with Chuck twice next week to make up for the missed day this week. And maybe, so I can make it up to Scott, we can go visit _him_ for a change some time soon?"

Rufus nodded. "Sounds good to me! Now. Maybe you should get dressed before we head out to dinner."

"What? My nightgown isn't good enough?" Lily joked.

Rufus smirked. "For me it is. For a restaurant, not so much."

"Well, we still have some time, and I'm suddenly feeling more energetic than I've felt all week." Lily sat up on her knees and pulled her nightgown off. She wasn't wearing a bra underneath. She pulled off her underwear, and let it slip to the floor. "Now why don't I make it up to _you_ before dinner?" She pulled off his shirt, then unbuckled his pants.

Rufus shivered—and it wasn't because of the cold. He licked his lips. "Sounds good to _me_."

Lily pulled off his shoes and socks, then pulled off his pants, bringing his underwear off with them. She tossed the clothes to the floor, and pushed him down onto his back on the bed. She straddled him, and brushed her lips against his ear. "And this time, _I'll_ do all the work."

Rufus moaned. He couldn't turn down _that_!

Lily smiled. "Starting with my hands." She trailed her hand down to his body and kissed him, stifling another of his moans, as her hand met its goal.


	6. Gluttony

_**I Wanna Be Bad: 7 Deadly Sins**_

_**Gluttony**_

"_The glutton in much more than an animal and much less than a man." - Honore de Balzac_

Rufus came into the apartment, looking like he'd just won the lottery.

Lily smirked. "Hello, Darling. Well, _you_ look happy. What's up?" She kissed him.

He kissed her back before returning to his smiling state. "There's a new restaurant opening up tomorrow. I just saw a sign for it. I don't know how I never heard they were opening it!"

Lily smirked. "Why are you so excited over a restaurant? We live in New York City, Darling. Restaurants here are a dime a dozen."

Rufus nodded. "Yes, but none of them are a restaurant focusing only on waffles!"

Lily nodded her head in understanding. "Ah! Got ya."

"It's called Waffly Delicious!" Rufus clapped his hands together with glee. "Oh my gosh, they open up at seven tomorrow. I want to be there by five."

Lily's eyes got wider. "Five? Darling, I really don't think we need to be there two hours early. A half hour should be plenty."

Rufus pouted. "But I want to be one of the first served! It's a new restaurant in New York City. You know how people are! They are going to want to try it out because it's new. They don't deserve to be able to try it out first. I bet a lot of them don't even list waffles as their favorite breakfast food. I love waffles for breakfast, lunch, _or_ dinner. If anyone deserves to eat there first, it's me."

Lily rolled her eyes, but smirked nonetheless. He had a point. "I'll tell you what. We'll go an hour early, but no later, all right?"

Rufus sighed. "All right, but if I'm not one of the first served, it's on _your_ head."

Again, Lily smirked. "I'm willing to take that chance."

"Tell me again why we all have to go?" Jenny whined as she slumped down on the couch. "I'm out of school for the summer. I shouldn't have to get up this early."

"Because waffles are delicious, and the whole family needs to be there for it," Rufus told her.

Jenny crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah, well, I wish I lived in Boston like Scott. Then I wouldn't have to go, and I'd still be sleeping in my warm, comfortable bed."

Eric rolled his eyes at her. "Oh, chillax! So we have to get up early _one_ summer morning. We'll live. Besides, I hear they have over fifty kinds of waffles. Yum!" Eric licked his lips, and rubbed his stomach.

Rufus nodded. "Now you're talking!"

The elevator doors opened, and in walked Serena and Dan.

"Where's Charles?" Lily asked.

"He had to go out of town at the last minute for a business meeting. He sends his apologies," Serena said with a sigh.

"I can hardly wait to go. I hear they have chocolate chip waffles!" Dan said.

"I know! I think I'm going to try every kind they have," Rufus said.

"Darling, there's fifty of them," Lily reminded him as she placed her hand over her husband's shoulder.

Rufus turned his face to hers and sweetly kissed her lips. "I know, but I'm always up for a challenge. Anything I don't get to try, I have plenty of other days to finish. Now let's go! We're missing out on valuable eating time!" He headed to the elevator, and his family followed suit.

"They don't open for another hour and ten minutes," Serena reminded him.

"Yes, but the further back we get in line, that's all the less time we have to eat," Rufus explained.

"But they're open until ten tonight!" Serena insisted as they headed into the elevator. "We'll have more than enough time to eat. Trust me."

Dan shook his head, and gently placed a hand overtop of Serena's shoulder. "Don't even try. When it comes to waffles, you'll never win."

Serena rolled her eyes as she watched the doors shut in front of them.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "And, it's official. We're the only morons that go to a waffle house opening an hour early." She looked at her iphone, almost expecting a text from Gossip Girl with a picture of the lame Humphreys and a story of how lame they are for arriving an hour early just to be the first to get some waffles.

Rufus chose to ignore her, as did everyone else.

"It's beautiful!" Rufus said, staring up at the massive building in awe. It was shaped like a giant waffle. The door was square-shaped and painted the same color of the waffle to make it look like the customer was walking inside the restaurant by way of one of the waffle crevices. "All it needs is a little syrup, and maybe some strawberries."

"Yes, this is so embarrassing," Jenny muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"It looks good enough to eat!" Lily said.

"Wouldn't that be cool if we could take a bite out of the restaurant?" Eric asked.

"If the restaurant was edible, it would be eaten by sunrise," Serena said.

"But we'd have a hell of a fun time getting rid of it," Dan said.

Rufus nodded. "I know _that's_ right!"

Again, Jenny rolled her eyes. She could hardly wait for the damn restaurant to open already! And it wasn't because she was eager to eat some waffles.

Finally, the restaurant opened. People had lined up behind them, coming only as early as a half hour early. The rest had come ten to fifteen minutes early.

They got seated right away, and looked over their menus.

"Wow! They really _do_ have a lot of waffles here!" Lily said.

Rufus grinned. "See? I told you! I love it! They all sound so good! I don't know what to order!"

Lily smirked. "You can start with your drink, then go from there."

Rufus looked over the drinks selections, and decided to get both a waffle flavored coffee as well as a large milk.

Jenny wrinkled her nose. "Waffle flavored coffee sounds disgusting!"

"Jenny, can you please try to enjoy yourself for your father's sake?" Lily asked while reading her menu.

Jenny sighed, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine."

Rufus smiled at his wife. "Thank you, Honey."

Lily smiled at him. "Don't mention it!"

They kissed.

"Gag me, Jenny said.

"Tell me about it," Serena said under her breath as she went back to looking at her menu.

Rufus ordered last because he couldn't decide on what to order. There were American waffles, Belgian waffles, Liège waffles, Hong Kong style waffles, otherwise known as "grid cakes," Scandinavian style waffles, and stroopwaffels, which were syrup-filled waffles. He finally decided on the stroopwaffels. But then he had to decide on the topping. There were fruit toppings, then liquid toppings like fudge and butterscotch, then there were toppings like marshmallow and nuts. He finally decided on strawberries. Then of course there were ten kinds of syrup. He ended up ordering them all on the side so that he could find one that fit his taste buds (and stomach) best.

Finally, once they had all ordered, it was time to look around the restaurant.

Lily motioned them away with her hand. "You guys go ahead. Charles just texted me. He needs me to make a call for him. It just business related stuff with the hotel. I'm going to make the call in the bathroom so I can hear better."

"All right, but you're gonna be missing out!" Rufus told her.

Lily smirked. "Somehow, I think I'll manage."

Rufus was already off to look around the restaurant. It was like a Hard Rock Café, he realized, only it was for waffles instead of rock n' roll memorabilia.

He looked all around at signs telling about the history of waffles. There were also a number of pictures that showed celebrities eating waffles.

"Look!" Rufus grinned as he pointed to a picture of Ron Palillo, aka Horshack from _Welcome Back Kotter_, eating a stack of waffles. "It says here waffles are his favorite breakfast food. That is so cool! Though, I still say I'm the bigger fan of waffles than he is. There's no way he could love them as much as I do. Just no way!"

Jenny rolled her eyes at her father, then turned her attention to her siblings. "Can I please shoot myself now?"

"Please, allow me," Eric joked, which only got him the famous Jenny eye roll in return.

Rufus walked until he got to the center of the room. Then, he stopped dead in his tracks. It was as if celestial music had begun to play. He could practically here it in his head as lights from above shown down on the giant waffle before him. "It's beautiful," he said, almost getting teary-eyed. It was a waffle that sat on a huge platform and went up a good twelve feet. The only thing missing was the syrup.

He turned to his kids. "Oh my gosh, I have to get a picture on this!" He nodded at Dan. "Can you take a picture on your iphone please?"

Dan sighed, but pulled out his iphone.

Rufus looked around, and grinned when he saw that no one but him and the kids were around. "Wait. I want to climb it while you take the picture!"

"Dad, seriously?" Dan asked, giving him a funny look.

Jenny was looking at her father as if he were from another planet. "Dad, there are red ropes guarding it, in case you didn't notice."

Serena pointed to the sign. "And a sign that says, 'please keep off.'

Eric grinned. "No one's around. I say go for it. You can use the waffle crevices as foot and hand grips."

Rufus nodded and smiled at his stepson. "Exactly!" He rubbed his hands together as he looked up at the giant waffle. He licked his lips. The giant waffle was obviously made of plastic, but it still looked good.

With one last quick look around to make sure no one was watching, Rufus stepped over the ropes.

Jenny put her forehead in her hand. "This is so embarrassing!"

Rufus began to climb the waffle then. "Don't take the picture until I'm in the middle of it and looking at you!" he told Dan.

Dan sighed. "Whatever, just hurry up before someone sees you."

"Be careful!" Serena called out.

Rufus climbed higher, and had almost gotten to the middle of the waffle when an alarm started to go off.

"Uh oh." Rufus suddenly felt sick. _Someone caught me trying to climb the waffle!_ he thought with panic.

"Rufus, look out!" Eric and Serena shouted as Dan and Jenny said, "Dad, look out!"

"Huh?" Rufus looked at the kids, who were all pointing above his head. He looked up to see what they were pointing at. It was a bucket, and it was starting to tilt. _Splash!_ Rufus hadn't had time to react before the bucket tilted, spilling down a bucket of syrup all over his face and body. That wasn't the worst of it. The syrup falling on him had caused him to slip, and he fell backwards back down to the floor. He was vaguely aware of screams as he did so.

"I've never been so embarrassed in my entire life! This is _so_ going to be on Gossip Girl tomorrow!" Jenny whined as she plopped herself down into one of the plush chairs by the couch. They had all just arrived back home from the restaurant.

"Forget about Gossip Girl. Who cares? Dad could have been seriously hurt!" Dan said.

"I'm fine. Can we please just not talk about it?" Rufus asked. He was so embarrassed. It turned out, it was a special thing that went off at sporadic times. A big bucket of syrup would drop down onto the giant waffle at the sound of an alarm. Then, after everyone was able to see it and gawk and coo over it, it would be hosed down to make it ready for the next time. The bucket was controlled by a machine, and Rufus had been at the wrong place at the wrong time. He just wished he had noticed the big drain on the floor underneath the waffle. Maybe that would have tipped him off. Though, he did get to experience firsthand the very first dunking of the syrup over the waffle. Somehow though, he didn't feel quite honored.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "He obviously wasn't hurt, since insisted we stay and eat our breakfasts."

"And it was _good_," Rufus said, licking his lips at the memory. "The best waffles I ever tasted!" He pat his stomach. Indeed they had been.

Lily rolled her eyes. "You're just lucky they didn't kick you out. I think they were just happy you didn't threaten to sue them."

"In that case, they should have given us our breakfast for free!" Rufus joked.

Lily gave him a look. "Not funny. Don't you ever scare me like that again! Do you know how scared I was when I came out of the bathroom just in time to see you plunging down from a giant waffle?"

"It was kind of funny actually!" Serena said with a smirk.

Eric started to giggle, then they both burst out laughing.

Lily crossed her arms over her chest. "It's not funny! He's lucky he hadn't climbed too far up! He could have broken some bones, given himself a concussion, or worse!"

"Yeah, well, I'm fine. I won't do something so stupid again, I promise, Lil." Rufus placed his arm around his wife's waist, and pulled her in for a kiss.

Lily shot him a look. "You _better_ not!" She kissed him again.

Rufus turned his attention to Dan. "Did you get the picture at least?"

Dan smirked. "Not of you climbing, but I got a good one of you on the floor with syrup all over your face and clothes." He showed Rufus the picture on his iphone.

Rufus looked at the picture then winced and looked away. So much for getting the picture framed. Then again, if he was going to go down, at least it was from falling from a giant syrup-covered waffle. Though, had it been a _real_ waffle, it would have been a whole lot more enjoyable.

"Uh oh. I just got a text," Serena stated.

Jenny quickly looked up at her. "From Gossip Girl?" she asked with worry.

Serena shook her head. "No." She turned to Rufus. "It's from the giant waffle. It wants me to let you know that it's getting a restraining order on you. You're not allowed within five feet of it or you'll be banned from Waffly Good Waffles for a waffly long time."

The kids, and even Lily all burst into laughter.

Rufus blushed, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Haha. You're hilarious! I'm never going to live this down, am I?"

"Nope!" Dan placed a hand overtop of his shoulder. "I just got a text of mine own. This time it _is_ from Gossip Girl. Looks like I wasn't the only one taking pictures. But, look on the bright side—now you have a picture of you falling as well!" He showed the picture to his father.

Rufus looked. Sure enough, there he was, dropping backwards from the giant waffle. He sighed. "_Great_."

"Don't worry, Darling, we still love you." Lily said, nuzzling her nose against his.

He smiled. "And I still love waffles!"

Lily and the kids all rolled their eyes.

Rufus laughed. "What? I do."

In response, Lily and the kids walked away, and went off to do their own thing.

Rufus shrugged. Whatever. He had too many important things on his mind than to worry about annoying his family. Like what kind of waffles he was going to get when he went back to Waffly Waffles for lunch and dinner!

"You're on your own this time, Darling. The kids and I are all waffled out!" Lily said when Rufus requested that they go to Waffly Good Waffles for dinner. He had miraculously talked the kids and Lily into going back to Waffly Waffles for lunch. Heck, getting Jenny to go was a miracle all on its own. But, now that he wanted to go back for dinner, both Lily and the kids had drawn the line.

And so became why Rufus was now at Waffly Delicious, eating his Belgian waffles with hot fudge and strawberries all by himself. He took a sip of his milk, wishing his wife was by his side. Oh well. At least he had his waffles!

"Wow, you ate them all already?" the waitress asked once he had finished his waffles.

Rufus grinned and nodded. "What can I say? I love me some waffles!" He rubbed his stomach for emphasis.

She smirked. "Well, in that case, you should sign up for the waffle eating contest. We still need a few more contestants!"

Rufus' ears perked up. "Waffle eating contest?"

The waitress nodded. "Uh huh! It's going to be held next Friday. The winner gets a trophy and a mystery prize worth a lot. Do you think that's something you'd be interested in?"

Rufus was suddenly very eager. "Interested in? Are you kidding me? You're only looking at a guy who practically lives for waffles! Can anyone sign up?"

The waitress nodded. "Entries are limited, but, like I said, we do have a few spots left. There is going to be ten contestants, and we only have seven so far."

"Sign me up!" Rufus said, practically jumping out of his seat.

The waitress smiled. "Great! I'll go get you an entry form." She took Rufus' empty plate, then walked off.

Rufus finished up his milk. _What is taking her so long?_ he wondered, even though she had only just left.

Five minutes later, she came back with the entry form.

Rufus filled it out, then handed it to her.

She looked it over, then smiled at him. "Great! I'll give this to the manager, and you can be ready to eat come next Friday at six p.m.!"

Rufus pat his stomach. "I'm _always_ ready to eat—especially when it comes to waffles!"

The waitress laughed. "Good. I'm glad to hear it." She nodded at the table. Will that be all?"

Rufus nodded. "Yes. For now."

The waitress giggled, then handed him his check. Rufus quickly took his money out. He could hardly wait to get home and tell Lily and the kids the good news! He _so_ had this in the bag. Or rather, his stomach. He pat his stomach and licked his lips at the thought.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Look at the size of your competition! They're all so..." Lily trailed off. It was the day of the contest, and they had arrived at Waffly Good Waffles ten minutes before the contest was to start.

"Fat?" Jenny offered with a smirk.

Lily gave her stepdaughter a half smile, and shook her head at her. "For lack of a better word."

"You're forgetting Rufus is like the king of waffles," Eric stated.

Rufus nodded. "That's right! I can _so_ take these guys on."

"Sorry Rufus, but my money is on one of the fat guys," Serena said.

"No way. My money's on Dad," Dan said.

"Mine too!" Eric piped in.

"He'll puke after the third waffle," Jenny said with a smirk.

"My own daughter turning on me. It's a sad day. Then again, I'm eating all the waffles I want. It's a happy day!" Rufus said.

"All right! I ask that the contestants now take the stage. The contest is about to begin!" Richard Westmont, the owner of Awfully Good Waffles and host of the contest called out.

Rufus looked at his family. "Wish me luck!" He kissed Lily, then went to sit at the long table with the other nine contestants. He was lucky number seven. He took that as a good sign.

"All right," Richard began. "Welcome to the first annual Waffly Good Waffles waffle eating contest, which we here at Waffly Good Waffles like to call 'That's a Waffle Lot of Waffles!'"

Some of the audience giggled, where others groaned at the bad pun.

"The rules are as follows. You eat until you can no longer eat. If you puke, you're automatically disqualified. You're only allowed to throw up if you're disqualified, or if the contest is over. You will all be given American style waffles with maple syrup. You can use the fork and knife given to you, or, if you want it to go faster, you can use your are each given a plate of ten waffles. When your plate is empty, slap the table as a signal that you are done, and a new plate of ten waffles will be placed in front of you. The last man eating will be the winner. You also have glasses of milk in front of you. They will be promptly replaced once they are empty, for easy swallowing of the waffles. Does everyone understand the rules?" Richard asked.

The contestants all grunted their confirmation.

"All right then. When the air horn is blown, you may start," Richard said, watching as each contestant got a plate of ten syrup-covered waffles. Once they had all been served their waffles, Rich blew the air horn. "Go!"

Immediately, the contestants went at their waffles.

Rufus dug in with his hands. He didn't bother looking around, so as not to lose focus or time, but he was sure no other contestant was going to bother with a fork and a knife! He ate his first bowl of waffles, cramming in two at a time. He was going to win this thing. Eric was right—he was the king of waffles. And the king of waffles didn't lose a waffle eating contest no matter _how_ fat the other contestants were! This thing was his.

It was an hour later, and Rufus and a guy named Bob were the only two contestants left. One contestant had even puked after having eaten only one plate of waffles. The others had followed suit shortly after.

Rufus and Bob were on the same numbered plate, and pretty close on the waffle number as well.

"You look full. You can give up now. Second place still gets a fifty dollar gift certificate to here," Bob said, trying so psyche him out.

Rufus ignored him, and kept eating. He didn't mind Bob's strategy. After all, the more time Bob spent smack talking, the less waffles Bob was eating.

Rufus finished another plate, Bob just seconds behind him.

"Go Dad!" Dan called out.

Eric whistled. "You can do it, Rufus!"

Rufus was a little less confident now. He thought eating as many waffles as he wanted was going to be a dream come true. The thing was, as many as he wanted had been three bowls ago. Now, he thought he was going to puke.

He ate another waffle, though slower this time.

He and Bob finished the first waffle off their plates at the same time. Then, they looked at each other. Bob had slowed down just as much as Rufus had, and both men were aware of their opponent's slowness.

They both took a sip of their milks, then reached for another waffle, and ate that.

Bob took a bite of the next waffle, but chewed as slow as a snail.

Rufus took his next waffle, but didn't know if he could do it. He felt the acid bubbling up in his stomach. Maybe it was time to give up. Maybe he was just the prince of waffles instead of the king. But then he looked up and saw Lily's beautiful face smiling at him.

"You can do it, Darling," she said to him, her voice sounding like the sweetest song.

It gave him the extra boost he needed. He picked up the next waffle, shoved it all into his mouth, and swallowed it.

Bob saw this and tried to stuff two waffles into his mouth at a last attempt to win. Unfortunately for Bob, he overestimated his stomach, and the waffles came right back up as he violently puked. Rufus quickly took a sip of his milk, so as not to puke _his_ up. He put his mind on the fact that he had won. He wanted to hear it first though.

"That's it! Rufus Humphrey is the winner!" Richard came over to him and took his right arm, raising it up in the air with his own.

Lily cheered wildly, as did the kids. Rufus even saw Serena and Jenny dishing money over to Dan and Eric because of their lost bet.

"So, Rufus, tell us how it feels to win!" Richard said to him.

Rufus suddenly felt sick. The waffles were finally coming back up. He quickly grabbed the puke bucket that the contestants were given (they each got their own), and threw up everything he ate. It took a minute to get it all out, but boy did he feel better once everything was out of his system. At least he had held out until he won. Thank God for Lily. If it hadn't been for her, he didn't think he could have done it.

After he was finally done throwing up, Lily and the kids ran over to him.

"Congratulations, Darling! I'm so proud of you!" Lily said, taking him in her arms and hugging him. "I'll kiss you once you get home and brush your teeth," she said with a smirk. "Are you feeling better now? I knew you shouldn't have eaten all those. At least you won, so it wasn't all for nothing."

Rufus nodded. "You got me through it. Had you not been there to cheer me on, I would have given up on that last waffle."

Lily smiled, and kissed his cheek.

"I'm sorry I doubted you, Dad. That was pretty cool!" Jenny said.

Serena nodded. "Yeah, congrats, Rufus. You definitely deserve it!"

"You are definitely the king of waffles now!" Eric said.

Dan nodded, and clasped his father's shoulder. "I'm proud of you, Dad."

Rufus got teary-eyed. "Thanks, guys. It means so much to me knowing that I have my family here to support me! I'll tell you one thing though—I am so sick of waffles, I'm not sure I ever want to see another waffle ever again."

Jenny gasped, and placed a hand to her heart. "Now _that_ is worthy of Gossip Girl!"

They all laughed—even Rufus.

"Congratulations, Rufus! Here is your trophy with a certificate to get it engraved with your name on it at Manhattan Engravers."

"Thank you!" Rufus said as Richard handed him his trophy and certificate.

"And, here is your mystery prize." Richard handed Rufus another certificate.

Rufus smiled brightly. He wondered what it was for. A watch? A nice suit? His grin turned to a frown of distaste as he read what it was for.

"Congratulations, Rufus, you just won yourself a year's worth of free eating at Waffly Delicious! You can eat free unlimited waffles from here for a whole year! Isn't that great?" Richard asked, clapping him on the back.

Rufus felt his face turn hot. Yep, there were more waffles left in his stomach after all. Well, not for long. He quickly handed Lily his trophy and certificates. "Excuse me!" He covered his mouth, and ran to the bathroom to throw up the rest of his waffles.

The kids and Lily all shook their heads.

"Well, at least we don't have to hear about his waffle obsession anymore," Dan stated.

Lily nodded. "That's true. And at least he learned his lesson about eating so much."

"I'll kind of miss hearing about his love for waffles actually, Eric said, looking towards the bathrooms and feeling nostalgic.

Serena sighed. "I'm hungry."

Jenny smirked. "Anyone want waffles?"

They all looked at each other, then burst into laughter.


	7. Greed

_**I Wanna Be Bad: 7 Deadly Sins**_

_**Greed**_

"_We Tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." - Frederick Keonig_

"This is going to be fun, shopping together just like old times!" Lily's old friend Jenny (whom Rufus' daughter was named after) said as she and Lily headed down the street toward the shops.

Lily nodded. "I know, right? It's been way too long since we've shopped together. We should do it at least once a week."

Jenny smirked. "I was thinking more like once a day."

Lily smirked too.

"Let's look in here! It just opened up, and I've been dying to see what they have. I want to spruce up the husband's and my sex life a little. Not that it needs it, but you know, I don't know if it ever gets to the point where it can't get better." Jenny opened the door to the new, Skintimate Apparel, and entered into the store.

Lily followed her in. "I don't know." She smiled, thinking about her's and Rufus' sex life. "I think mine is as good as it gets!"

Jenny smirked, and placed her hand over her best friend's shoulder. "Honey, trust me. It can _always_ get better!"

Lily grinned at shook her head. Years may have passed, but good ol' Jenny was still the same.

Jenny began to look around the shop, and so Lily did as well. However, as soon as Lily began to look around, she realized this place looked more like a sex shop than an apparel place. There were fur-lined cuffs, edible underwear, and even a couple vibrators, though what those had to do with apparel, Lily had no idea.

"Oo, I'm going to get this! This is so hot!" Jenny said, picking up a lace bra with matching boy shorts. There were several different colors, but she chose hers in a light pink.

Lily picked up one off the rack, and ran her fingers over the material. "You'd be able to see right through this!" she said.

Jenny smirked. "Um, that's kind of the point, Lily. You should get one!"

Lily blushed. "Me? Oh, I don't know. I don't think so." She ran her fingers over the cup of the bra. There was no padding and no wire—just a thin layer of lace. "I couldn't!"

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Ah, come on! Rufus will love you in that. Trust me. If he doesn't then, you better call 911 because he doesn't have a pulse!"

Lily sighed, then set the bra and pantie set back onto the rack. "None of the colors are even dark enough to mask anything. They are all light colors!"

Jenny smirked at her again. "Again, Lily, that's kind of the point." She nodded toward the rack. "Go ahead and pick one. Rufus will _love_ it, and you will be thanking me tomorrow. Trust me."

Lily sighed. "I still don't know."

Jenny let out a cry of frustration. "Lily, come on! Where is the Lily I first became friends with? The Lily who was never afraid to walk on the wild side—especially when it came to sex with Rufus."

Lily smirked as she remembered back to the way she used to be before her mother corrupted her with all the prim and proper stuff. She looked at the bra and pantie sets, then smiled. "Ah, what the heck? Why not?"

Jenny squealed with delight, and clapped her hands together. "Yes! Rufus will be thanking me in the morning, as will you."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Why is it so important to you that I get one too?"

"It's simple, my friend." Jenny placed a hand overtop of Lily's shoulder. "I believe everyone should experience great sex, and I know you will once Rufus sees you wearing one of these." She held up her own bra and panty set or emphasis. "And, it's a buy two get one free sale, and I didn't want to have to buy two to get two."

Lily rolled her eyes and shook her head, but smirked nonetheless. Yep! Definitely the same ol' Jenny.

She turned her attention back tot he rack, then chose a lavender bra and panty set.

Jenny smiled approvingly. "Excellent choice!"

Lily smiled back. She just hoped this turned out as well as Jenny thought it would.

That night, Lily decided to wear her new purchase underneath her clothes, then be casually undressing in front of Rufus. She wanted to wait and see how long it took him to notice. As it ended up, it hadn't taken long at all.

Lily pulled out the pins in her hair, and shook her hair free as she sat at her vanity. She smirked when she saw in the mirror that Rufus was watching her from where he was lying on the bed.

She took off her jewelry, taking her time as she did so.

Rufus' eyes strayed for just a moment, but they were back on her as soon as she began to unbutton her blouse.

Lily looked down, so that Rufus wouldn't be able to see her smile as she slowly unbuttoned her buttons one by one.

She slipped the blouse off her shoulders, and let it drop to the floor.

Rufus licked his lips, but didn't say anything.

She already had her shoes off, but her stockings needed to come off. So, she stood up, then reached underneath her skirt, and pulled her stockings down and off.

She tossed the stockings over to set with her blouse, then she unzipped the back of her skirt, and let it drop to the floor.

With a smirk on her face at the sound of Rufus slightly gasping, she stepped out of the skirt, then slowly turned around and faced Rufus.

He licked his lips again, his eyes wandering slowly up and down her body before they finally made contact with her eyes. "Wow," he breathed.

She smiled, and innocently batted her eyelashes. "Do you like? I bought it when I went shopping with Jenny today. They had them in all different colors, but I liked the lavender one." She had even gotten a mani/pedi to match.

"Oh, I think you'd look good no matter _what_ color you chose." Rufus reached his arms out to her palms up, and motioned her to him with all his fingers minus his thumbs. "I think I'm going to have to take a closer look at those."

Lily bit her bottom lip and smirked, then ran over to the bed and pounced on it, landing right beside him. She really _was_ beginning to feel like the old Lily again—the wild child teenage Lily that first fell in love with Rufus.

Rufus' eyes lowered as he hovered over her, his hands lightly roaming over her breasts, then down to her stomach, and finally over her panties and thighs.

Next, he placed his lips to her stomach, and gently kissed down her stomach as his fingers played at the waistband of her panties.

Lily sighed with contentment, her eyes closed, and her head thrown slightly back. She had a feeling Jenny was right. She'd definitely be thanking her later for talking her into buying these.

He gently bit the waistband of her panties, then and began to tug at them.

She smirked at him. "Feeling in a playful mood?"

His eyes darkened, and his teeth released the band. "_No_, I'm in a gotta-have-you-before-I-explode kind of mood."

She licked her lips. "Well, in that case..." She took his hands and placed them back over the waistband of her panties. "Get to work."

That had done it. It didn't take long at all after that for her underwear to be on the floor, and her husband's tongue to be probing places it should never probe in public.

Her head instantly went back again, and her eyes closed instinctively as he continued to show her without words exactly how much he loved her new bra and pantie set.

She gripped his hair tightly when she neared her climax, and when she finally hit it, she could literally feel the eyes roll to the back of her head as she screamed out her pleasure. She was just grateful that the kids weren't home. Though, they were due to be home at any time, for the movie they were seeing was only an hour and twenty minutes, and they had left an hour and a half ago. She knew they'd have to wrap it up soon. Though, she really, _really_ wanted to keep going.

As if reading her mind, Rufus kissed his way back up her body, and gently reached behind her to unlatch her bra as he tugged at the front of it with his teeth.

She licked her lips and smiled. "The kids are going to be home soon. We can't."

He got the bra off, and tossed it to the floor. "I say we can." His lips were instantly to her breasts, his tongue swirling around her left nipple before he moved on to the other one.

She closed her eyes as his mouth continued to pleasure her. "Well, I guess we do have a little bit of time if you tack on the preview time..."

Rufus entered her, and she was too overtaken with pleasure to even care about finishing her sentence. She could hardly think straight enough to finish it anyway.

She wrapped her hands around the back of his head and pressed his face to hers so she could kiss him good and hard.

She moaned as he hit just the right spot that shot pleasure through her body like lightening.

His lips left hers so that they could travel to her neck, where he began to kiss and gently nip. He loved marking her as his own.

She moaned again, her eyes closing again as well. It was settled—tomorrow she was going back to Skintimate Apparel and getting every color they owned of that bra and pantie set!

"So, I take it, since you want to come back here, Rufus liked what he saw?" Jenny asked with a smirk as they entered Skintimate Apparel the next day.

Lily smirked and nodded. "You could say that." She faced Jenny, and placed her hands overtop of her best friend's shoulders. "Oh, Jenny, I had no idea how crazy that outfit would drive him! He couldn't get enough of me! Even when the kids came home, he didn't want to stop. It was hard trying to be quite, but we managed."

"Well, you should definitely get one in every color like you want then." Jenny got a mischievous look on her face. "But I think you should find something that will make him want you so badly, he'll be so good in bed that you won't be able to keep quiet even with the kids home!"

Lily thought about it for a moment. Maybe Jenny had a point. Maybe she needed something sexier. She kind of liked being wanted that much.

She turned to her friend. "So, what do you have in mind?"

Jenny grinned. "Follow me." She grabbed her hand, and led her off.

Lily felt like a teenager again. She was taken right back to years ago when she and Jenny would dress sexy for their boyfriends. She could hardly wait to see what Jenny had in mind for her. After all, when it came to sex and what turned guys on, Jenny always seemed to be the expert!

Fifteen minutes later, Lily had not only bought the bra and panty sets in all the remaining colors, but, she had also bought five more lingerie pieces, each one sexier than the last. Now that she had gotten a taste of what wearing lingerie for Rufus got her, she wanted more. She wanted to see just how hot she could make him. It made her feel young again, and less...well, old.

The buying didn't stop there, however.

As Lily and Jenny left the store and walked down the street towards Bloomingdale's, they ran into Alicia Higgins. They had only known her for a year in their junior year before she left for London to attend her senior year abroad. But one year had been more than enough. Alicia's parents were rich. Therefore, Alicia had always had everything she ever wanted, and was extremely snobby and spoiled because of it. At least, that was the way she was when they knew her. Now, seeing as she was covered in head to toe designer clothing, Lily didn't doubt that she was the same spoiled rich girl.

Alicia smirked. She never just smiled. Her smirk was a way of saying, "_I'm better than you, and richer than you, and I always will be."_ She cleared her throat. "Hello, Lily." She glanced at Jenny. "Jenny. It's been a long time. I see you two have aged some. It might be time to think about a plastic surgeon. I'd suggest one, but I never have to go to one, so I wouldn't know who to recommend." She fluffed her hair with her hand.

Jenny gave Alicia her own smirk right back. "And I see you're still the stuck up snobby rich girl you always used to be."

"Actually, I'm even richer now," Alicia said, as if not even noticing Jenny's insult.

"Where did you get that outfit?" Lily couldn't help but ask even though she disliked Alicia with a passion. The outfit was classy yet sexy, what with the grey over-the-knee boots.

Alicia looked down at her outfit. "This old thing? I got it last week at Gucci. I'm giving it to charity after today. This is already my second time wearing it, but my maid is sick, so I had nothing else clean to wear. That is why I am out shopping now. I must buy new outfits. I can't bear to wear anything I own another day! I've worn everything twice, and it's more than time to move on. At least the homeless can enjoy my old clothes."

Jenny rolled her eyes.

Lily was tempted to ask if she could have the outfit, but decided against it. She didn't want to take from charity. Besides, she didn't want to admit to Alicia that she liked her style. Also, why settle for something worn twice when she could have something never before worn?

"Well, I hate to be rude, but I really must run. I have other things that I must do today," Alicia said.

"What do you mean you hate to be rude? You _thrive_ on being rude," Jenny quipped.

Alicia smirked. "Only to peasants. See you, girls." She walked off without another word or look.

"She acts like were inferior to her. 'Girls?' Please! We're the same age," Lily said as she crossed her arms over her chest. She was more than slightly annoyed. Alicia had gotten even more impossible since high school—if that were possible.

Jenny crossed her arms over her chest as well. "Yeah, we'll, I don't care what she says. _She's _the one that needs plastic surgery—not us. We look young and beautiful. She looks old and haggard. Okay, maybe not _haggard_, but she still has nothing on us. She's just jealous of us, so she feels she has to insult us."

"Come on." Lily took Jenny's arm, and started dragging her down the street.

"Where are you dragging me?" Jenny asked as she struggled to keep up.

"Gucci," Lily answered simply. "I can pull off that outfit she was wearing far better than _she_ can. In fact, I bet I can pull off everything in the store better than she can!"

Jenny grinned. "Now you're talking!" She smirked. "I bet you won't be the only one pulling it off." She winked at her friend.

Lily smiled at the thought of Rufus taking her clothes off. Alicia may only be able to wear her clothes twice before she gets sick of being seen in them. Well, _she_ was only going to be able to wear her clothes once because Rufus would probably be ripping them off her. She smiled even wider. _Take _that_, Alicia._

By the time Lily had arrived home, she needed Vanya to help her with her bags. She had five full bags of designer clothes, and planned on going back out with Jenny tomorrow to finish their shopping. The only reason they had stopped shopping today was that it was getting late, and she knew Rufus was making the family dinner tonight. Also, Jenny had wanted to get back to her husband and daughter.

"Woah. You're worse than I am when it comes to being a shop-o-holic, Mom!" Serena said as she saw the her mother and Vanya enter with the packages.

Lily blushed as she set the packages down on the floor next to the couch. "Yeah, well, I couldn't resist some things." She turned to Vanya. "Thank you, Vanya." She handed him a tip.

Vanya did a slight bow. "Thank you, M'am." He then took the elevator back down to his station.

Rufus came up from behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist. "'Some things?' Baby, it looks like you bought all the stores out!" He kissed her.

Lily kissed him in return, then smiled. "Not _all_ the stores. We never did make it to Barney's."

"Sheesh! You make Blair look like an amateur," Jenny stated.

Serena nodded and smirked. "As much as I hate to agree with Jenny, Mom, I have to on this one."

"Just remember, Jenny and I both still need to go to college. Don't blow our college funds," Eric joked.

Lily gave him a look that was half annoyed and half amused. "Trust me, Eric, there is plenty of money to go around."

"But you always taught us not to spend out money frivolously," Serena reminded her.

"Just because we have money doesn't mean we have to use it," Eric and Serena said in unison, using a line their mother used to feed them often when they were growing up.

Lily rolled her eyes. "One day of shopping isn't going to break the bank."

"Are you sure about that?" Rufus asked, eyeing the bags.

Again, Lily rolled her eyes. "I don't think you'll be complaining later tonight when I show you what I bought."

Eric, Serena, and Jenny all cried out in protest.

Rufus grinned. "You know, maybe we should just skip dinner and let the kids fend for themselves."

"Maybe 'the kids' should just leave, and find another place to stay for the night," Jenny said.

Serena and Eric both nodded.

Lily smirked at her husband, and shook her head. "Nonsense!" She looked back at the kids. "We're all going to eat as a family. Then, if you kids want to find another place to sleep, suit yourselves."

"We most definitely will, thank you very much!" Eric said. "To Elliot's it is."

"Hopefully Blair's up for a house guest, because I am _so_ not staying here tonight," Serena said.

"Yeah, I'll just get a hotel," Jenny said.

Lily was glad. She felt bad for pushing her kids out of the house. However, it was _their_ choice. Besides, it would be best that she and Rufus were alone after he saw her in everything she bought today. She wondered how many outfits—if any—she would get through before Rufus ravished her completely. She hoped none. After all, there would be plenty of days to model all her new clothes. Right now, all she wanted was her husband naked in bed with her, showing her how much he approved of her new taste in fashion.

That night, after dinner, the kids packed their bags and were gone before dessert.

"It's all right. We can save the dessert for another night. Right now, all I'm hungry for is you," Lily said, gently stroking some hair out of her husband's eyes.

Rufus picked her up. "Well, in that case, let's go take care of that!"

She grinned. "I want to get ready for you first."

"Whatever it is you have on, it's just going to be taken off right away, so you might as well not even waste your time," Rufus informed her.

She smiled, and brushed some more hair out of his eyes. "Please? I got an outfit I think you're going to like even better than last night's outfit."

He licked his lips. "Even better? Not possible!"

She nodded. "Possible."

He set her back down. "I'll be waiting in the bedroom. Don't be long."

"I won't be," Lily purred. She kissed him, then grabbed her bag, and headed up the stairs to the bathroom to change. She just knew Rufus would have her in bed all night after he saw her in the outfit, which is exactly what she wanted.

When she walked into the bedroom, she shut the door behind her, then headed slowly to the bed.

She got onto the bed on her knees, and Rufus instantly had her pinned down beneath him. "I told you that wasn't going to last long on you," he purred into her left ear.

She smiled. "That's okay. So, I take it you like?"

He moaned. "Mm, Baby, I _love."_

It was a black teddy that hardly left anything at all to the imagination. It had tassels covering her breasts, and the rest was see-thru except for where she had a pair of black panties on underneath.

It took Rufus all but ten seconds to get the outfit off, and two more seconds to get inside of her.

It was only a couple minutes after that before he was giving her the most intense orgasm of her life. Who would have thought he could do that so quickly? That was it. She was hooked on lingerie. She was going to buy more tomorrow when she went out with Jenny. Sure she had bought a lot today, but she could always go sexier. She wanted more. _No_, she _needed_ more. She wanted it all. She wanted sexier lingerie, and more expensive outfits and accessories. She wanted more than Alicia had. She was tired of being made to feel like second best. No, she would have everything Alicia had and more. That would certainly show miss high and mighty!

Lily suddenly got an idea. She turned to Rufus and took his face between her hands. She then kissed him before telling him of her idea. "Mm, Baby, I think we should go to Paris. We never had a honeymoon, and that would be the perfect place to go! When I go shopping with Jenny tomorrow for more lingerie, I can get new clothes for Paris. I can even get you some new things if you don't mind me shopping for you."

Rufus returned her kiss, then grinned. "Paris? More shopping? Lil, I think you're getting a little carried away on the shopping."

Lily shrugged. "What's so wrong with wanting to look nice, and wanting a honeymoon? You know what? We should go to London too. I'd love to show that little witch up by looking even better than she did when she lived in London."

"Who is this 'she' that you're talking about?" Rufus asked; confused now.

Lily sighed. She clenched her fists. Even just saying Alicia's name made her blood boil. "It's this girl I used to know in my junior year of high school. Her parents were rich, and she had everything she could ever want. She always made sure to rub it in Jenny's face and mine. She bragged to everyone, but for some reason, it was as if Jenny and I were her main targets. She lived to make us miserable. Thank God she moved to London to attend her senior year in boarding school. Though, apparently, she's since moved back here. Jenny and I ran into her today when we were shopping. She is the same old Alicia, only richer and snobbier than ever. She has everything, and is quick to brag about it."

Rufus nodded. "I get it now. So, you want to have everything like she does."

Lily sighed, then looked away. "I guess I do."

Rufus moved her chin so that she was forced to look him in the eyes. "Hey. You have _me_. Doesn't that count for anything?"

Lily sighed, and gently stroked his cheek. She smiled. "Of course it does."

He kissed her and smiled. "I'm the one thing you'll always have and she'll never have."

Lily grinned. "That's worth more than all the lingerie and clothes in the world."

Rufus kissed her for a moment. "As are you." He gently stroked her hair.

They kissed some more.

Rufus stoked her cheek. "I think you have more than enough clothes and lingerie to last you, or in the lingerie case, _us_ a long while. However, I wouldn't be opposed to going to Paris for our honeymoon."

Lily grinned. "Really?"

Rufus nodded. "Really! You deserve a honeymoon. I'm sorry I haven't given you one yet."

Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "It's okay. We've both been busy, and then we had the cancer scare and all the William and Holland drama."

Rufus kissed her again. "All the more reason for a honeymoon. I'll talk to my boss tomorrow and see when he can give me off."

"Are you sure he won't mind? You just started working for him." Lily didn't want to get her husband in trouble,

Rufus shook his head. "My boss and his wife are romantics. I'm sure once they here we want to go because we never had our honeymoon, he'll be all for it!"

Lily grinned, and they kissed some more.

"I love you," Lily said between kisses.

"I love you too," Rufus murmured. He broke a kiss. "Just do me a favor."

"Mm, what's that?" Lily asked.

"Wait to buy more lingerie and clothing until we're in Paris." He raised his eyebrows up and down suggestively. "I hear the lingerie and clothes are even sexier in France than they are here."

Lily giggled. "Deal!"

They grinned at each other, then kissed some more, Rufus going in for another round of showing Lily how much he liked her recent purchase.

Lily wasn't complaining, for Rufus was one thing she would be eternally greedy with. Rufus had once told her he could never get enough of her. Well, without a doubt, she could never get enough of _him_, and that was never going to change.


End file.
